Author: D.W. Jackson
Date: 2013-04-09 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Magic; High Fantasy
Description: Trapped in the vast underground networks of the subterranean Thad tried to find his way back to the surface. But Thad is not the only thing that lurks in the darkness. Creatures he had only heard about in tales appear around every bend. forced to fight for his life Thad is no longer living but merely surviving. He tries to keep his hopes up with his only link to the outside world, a small box that allows a small amount of food and news to be sent to him every few days.

This book is dedicated to the men and women of the 1120th asp. Team

U.S. Army

Remember it is the soldier who gives us the freedom of speech not the writer.

Broken Mage

By D.W. Jackson

Copyright © D.W. Jackson Smashwords edition

Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual event, organizations, or persons, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

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CHAPTER I

Thad hunched over his small dinner. It was his first taste of meat since the princess had sent some dried jerky through the sending box. He wasn’t sure what kind of animal it was and didn’t want to think about it too much, but he had seen them many times in the caves. It looked like a mix between a mouse and a rabbit with short gray fur, long ears, and a thin skinny tail spotted with hair.

By his reckoning he had been wandering in the caves for around twenty days based on the number of times he had been able to use the sending box. Thanks to the princess sending small amounts of food and water through the sending box whenever she could he was still alive.

The first few days he had tried to find an exit close to where he had entered, but the cave-in had cut off all the upper tunnels, forcing him to search in the deeper levels. It had been an effort of trial and error. He had spent more time backtracking than he could measure as most of the tunnels led to dead ends. More than once he was sure he had taken the same tunnel multiple times.

Thad had been following his current path for what he believed was about two days. It had a few offshoots from what he considered the central corridor, but he passed them without a second glance, hoping the one he was on would lead him to either an exit or someplace with food.

He had to move slowly and rest often, having to relying heavily on his magic to walk since the Ablaians had cut off his right foot. His magic had also saved his life on numerous occasions, sometimes it was as simple as casting a light so he could see where he walked, but every few days he would come across one of the denizens of the deep tunnels.

He had fought and killed many terrifying creatures only heard about in stories, stories he had always believed were only made up to scare children and entertain audiences. Goblins were the most common so far, vicious and fierce little creatures, no more than three feet high with skin that looked light gray under his magical light. The majority of which carried crude weapons made of stone held in their bulbous and deformed hands.

So far only two of the groups he had met had engaged him and he learned that despite their size they could do a great deal of damage. They melded with the darkness as if they were born of it, popping out and attacking with speed and precision in an animalistic fashion.

The best weapon in the darkness was not his sword but, the light of his staff, illuminating all around him when invoked. The creatures of the dark despised the light and would quickly scurry from his path to escape the painful radiance. The ones who didn’t run were slowed, almost stunned by the light, and quickly fell to his sword. It wasn’t pleasant or honorable work, but an easy kill was still an easy kill, and Thad was driven only by his desire to live.

The only creature that had forced him to run had been an eyeless stone snake that had nearly killed him. Thad had fought hard but to his almost fatal surprise, his magically sharpened sword skipped off the beast’s scales. The foul creature had chased him for a long time but Thad had finally escaped when a slower moving meal distracted his pursuer.

The constant daily walk was wearing, not only on his body, but on his mind as well. Every time he woke to the darkness, he fell deeper into a depression and his desperate hope of finding the surface above seemed that much more unlikely.

As he hobbled down the dark corridor, Thad could hear the scuttling of something nearby. It hadn’t crossed into the light, but the distinct sound of something moving across the ground set his nerves on edge. Even though the sound was just barely audible, he knew it didn’t mean the creature making it was necessarily small or harmless. Lifting his staff up slightly, he let the diamond on its top flare brightening a much larger area.

Thad let out a sigh of relief as the light from his staff revealed the hunched form of a large cave rat. They could be vicious but unless his light expired they would stay well away from him. Sometimes the cave rats would follow him hoping for as easy meal, but they quickly tired of the hunt and would move off to find easier prey.

Dimming his light to conserve his strength, Thad continued down the main corridor, down into the depths of the earth. After what felt like hours of endless walking, his stomach began to hurt with the pains of mounting hunger. He checked the sending box hoping that the princess had sent another one of her care packages, but was disappointed to find it still empty. He checked the magic levels of the gems and found them to be strong enough for a sending. He wanted to let the princess know how he was doing, but had to weigh that want against the two days he would have to wait before the princess could use the sending box to send him more supplies. When he didn’t know where his next meal was coming from, it was simply too big of a risk.

His stomach grumbling and his body fatigued Thad forced himself forward until he came to a fork in the cave that led off in two separate paths. Closing his eyes Thad listened hoping to catch the sound of the outside world or the smell of grass. When there was nothing except the ever-present suffocating darkness and dank smell, he decided to take the path leading to his right.

Thad knew he was tiring fast and needed to rest but unless he found a concealed place to rest, he might as well slit his own throat and save himself the terror of being eaten alive. Thad allowed his staff to dim a little more and weakened the force being used on his right foot, unbalancing him and causing a little more pain in his steps. It lengthened his allowable travel time which was a necessary as time wore on without a suitable concealed place to rest.

Shuffling along for a little longer, he finally found a small alcove, just barely big enough for his body. Thad squeezed in and settled into a somewhat comfortable position. Pulling a small piece of iron from his pocket, he placed it on the ground before him. He stretched out his hand letting the magic course through him naturally, acting on the metal, forcing it to stretch incredibly thin until it covered the entrance, trapping him in his small sanctuary.

Thad still marveled at the ease with which he could perform magic. When he had first learned to wield the natural forces around him, he had forced the magic to his will. It was becoming increasingly apparent, that had been using the wrong approach; and while it worked, it tired him out quickly as well as stressed his mind. During his capture, he had spent a lot of time reflecting while trapped within dark recesses of his own mind. There he had learned that if he merely allowed the magic to come to him and simply directed it to the desired outcome, it became so much easier to perform his craft.

With the outside horrors of the dark held at bay, Thad relaxed and pulled the small sending box into his lap. It was still empty so he gently placed it back in his bag and pulled out one of the letters from the princess. He had read all her letters numerous times but simply having something connected to another living person helped stave off his loneliness.

Extinguishing his staff Thad activated one of the light rings the princess had sent to him. It had been nice of her to send him some of the magical items he had set aside for Monique, if not entirely needed. The rings did allow him a few hours to rest his personal reserves of magic without having to do without the cherished light. She had also sent him one of the shield rings, though it was not the same strength as the one he had worn before his capture, but in a pinch it could come in handy. He wished the princess would send him some raw materials to work with so he could make some useful items. With nothing better to do, he had come up with a lot of ideas he wanted to try out.

Opening the letter, Thad smiled as he stared at the curly feminine writing. He had not seen the princess in some time, but he missed her cheery face and cutely adolescent commanding demeanor. Though in truth, he would settle with almost any human company at the moment.

Dear Thad,

I am glad to hear that you are doing well. As per your request I sent notification of your wellbeing to Southpass Fort.

Today we received a missive from General Foreman. It seems Captain Eloen has crossed into enemy territory in an attempt to rescue you. At the present time, mother has no way to reach her and let her know of your safety. If we receive any word of her, I shall let you know immediately.

On other news, we were visited by a man dressed all in black the other day who sent shivers down my back. He is here for the sole purpose, it seems, to ask about you. I am not sure why but the mere presence of the man is distressing and ominous. Mother sent him away quickly and the look on his face showed he didn’t seem happy about being dismissed so off-handedly.

Mother has every scholar in the Royal School scouring books for any information that might be of use to you in the caves. So far they have only found small mentions of expedition into the vast underground mazes that seem to crisscross under the entirety of Kurt.

I must go now. Mother has another meeting with Duchess Lesara and wants me to be present to keep her daughter occupied. I shall write again as soon as I am able. Be well and come home safe, when you are done with your current adventure.

Thad folded the parchment back up and carefully placed it back in his pack. He had received that particular letter some time back. It was hard to remember exactly when since the passage of time doesn’t mean much down here in the light-less depths of the earth. He had spent countless hours worrying about Eloen and her soldiers when he had learned that they had followed into enemy lands to find him. While he was unsure of whether he loved her, he did know he cared for a great deal. During their time on the road and at Southpass Fort, the often- bawdry Captain had grown as close to him as anyone had ever been.

Her feelings for him had led her into great danger, and Thad was at a loss for a way to discover if she was safe, let alone alive. All he could do was pray to the gods that she would keep herself and his friends in her unit safe. It wasn’t a happy thought to end his day. It caused him pain, but it also reminded him that even though he sat in the darkness alone, out there somewhere were others who were thinking of him.

Shutting off his thoughts, Thad settled into a deep state of meditation. He had never thought of doing so before, but the magic tome had explained the benefits of understanding yourself and expressed a need for a mage to commune with his own mind on a regular basis. He had neglected his continuous study of the book after his own initial success with magic. There was no excuse for his neglect other than his own ego blinding him.

Sinking into the dark void of his mind, he quickly found the center of his magic. It was glowing a light green and was surrounded by a nearly imperceptible pink. The color signified his own magical condition and wellness. The brighter it was, the stronger it was. Right now it was weak and waning, meaning he had pushed himself farther than was wise. It would be hours before he gained enough strength to continue his trek through the seemingly endless dark.

Thad concentrated on his magic center, trying to let it sync with the natural flow of magic within the earth around him. The exercise didn’t require him to actively use magic, just let himself be open to the magic around him and try and match its unique rhythm. At first he thought that the rhythm under the earth would be the same everywhere, but had learned differently after a few nightly meditation sessions.

The flow of magic permeated the world and was present in all things from the air above to the rocks below. Thad found through changing environments that in some areas it had thicker flow than others, like a massive river with many different offshoots winding its way through the earth. There were also different kinds of magic rivers and each one had its own unique feel to it. The magic book had referred to them as the core elements of the world. Underground, the earth and darkness elements had a strong hold and thick flow of magic, followed closely by fire. So as long as he could successfully tap into the magic around him, any spells using those elements were much easier, such as his little trick with the iron.

Thad thought about reading some more from the magical tome stuffed in his pack but he only had two light rings and didn’t want to over-use them. With little else to do, he turned off the light ring and adjusted as much as possible in the tight space until he could find a semi-comfortable position. He closed his eyes, knowing that sleep never came easy in the oppressive darkness, since every sound made him uneasy.

Thad awoke sometime later, his neck hurting from the unusual position he had settled in. He wanted to stretch and shake out the soreness out of his muscles, but there was no extra room to move. Pressing his ear awkwardly to his metal door, Thad listened for any signs of movement. When he heard none, he placed his hand on the metal, causing it to bend and shift, shrinking back into a small sphere that he stored in his pack for later use.

With a practiced touch, he sent his magic into his staff to light up the area beyond his cubbyhole. When he was sure nothing was nearby, he crawled back into the main passage and stood, letting his magic once again take the weight of his missing right foot. It had become so second nature to him, he hardly gave a thought to his missing appendage. That was, until he became tired and was forced to reduce the magic supporting his leg.

Not long after he had started his walk through the main corridor an odd noise echoed through a tunnel on his right. He knew that whatever had made such a racket would be dangerous and better left alone, but he turned toward the sound anyway. The hours of solitude were getting to him and he needed something, anything to do other than simply walking.

Thad dimmed his staff so that it only illuminated the small area around him in a soft red light. He had tried many different colors in the darkness and had discovered that red traveled the least distance, while also not stressing his tired eyes. In the absolute darkness of the underground, it was still a bright beacon and warning to anything nearby.

The clanging, and what sounded like yelling, grew louder as he moved down the narrow tunnel, repeatedly having to turn sideways or hunch down to shimmy his body and pack through a tight area.

He couldn’t afford to dim his red light, as he would be left unable to see in the darkness, but from trial and error, he knew that many of the creatures in this underworld did not react to it, and many seemed not to notice it at all. He had to take that chance now, for good or ill.

Thad discovered quite abruptly, the source of the noise as he turned around the last bend in the tunnel. A band of goblins were attacking what looked like a large black toad the size of a small house. It looked as if the goblins were doing well in the battle, though many of their number littered the floor of the large cavern.

From the looks of the rubbings on the wall it looked as if the cavern was the toad’s natural home, and the goblins were the aggressors. It was easy to see why. Large gems and crystals jutted from the wall as if they were crops growing in a fertile field. A small pool of water had also collected near one of the walls in a pool big enough to accommodate even the toad’s massive body.

His first thought beyond the existence of the adversaries, was that this place had almost everything he needed to survive, except for an obvious supply of metal ore and replenishing food source. Suppressing a grimace of distaste, he knew if the toad was edible it would last him a long time if he could find a way to preserve it.

Thad waited, watching as the goblins continued attacking the toad and trying to strike at its underbelly. The creature was already bleeding from numerous wounds and its movements looked wild and jerky. Its only real defense seemed to be either crushing the goblins under its immense weight or spearing them on the massive horns that jutted wildly from its head.

The battle raged on far longer than Thad would have believed possible, but the goblins finally triumphed and brought down the massive beast. Having been distracted by their foe, the goblins never saw him watching from a small side tunnel. There were still a more than a half dozen of the creatures left, and luckily they were too busy jumping on their defeated foe to pay attention to his approach.

While the goblins were still absorbed in their victory, Thad moved out from behind his hiding place throwing a ball of fire that completely engulfed the goblin unlucky enough to be closest to him. The resulting noise, light and stench of the wildly burning goblin finally caught the attention of the remaining odious little brutes, who then turned and stared at him with their beady green eyes almost glowing with obvious anger.

Knowing the darkness was to his enemy’s advantage, Thad commanded his staff return to its brilliant golden radiance. The sudden outpouring of light momentarily blinded him but when his eyes refocused he noticed it had a much greater effect on his enemies, giving him a brief moment of respite.

Wasting no time, Thad followed up by sending a bolt of lightning arcing through the cavern, slamming two of the ugly creatures against the far wall. The four remaining goblins advanced on him warily, with their crude weapons held out before them in shaky arms as they talked in their guttural and snarled language.

While Thad didn’t understand their language, the tone of it mixed with their body language spoke volumes. They were scared and arguing amongst each other. He figured they were discussing whether to run and gather more troops or try their luck now. Then again, they could be arguing over the best way to cook him. Do goblins even cook their meat? Perhaps that would best left a mystery, as he was not very eager to find out. With that thought in mind, he whirled into action, drawing his sword from its scabbard as he struck the nearest goblin with the end of his staff.

While the goblins were small, they were deadly fast, and far more determined than Thad had expected. He had learned how to hold up a partial shield to his front and sides, allowing him to conserve his magical strength and allowing him to be more aggressive in his attacks.

Safe behind his shield, Thad didn’t waste energy dodging or trying to parry their clumsy attacks. Instead, he shuffled around to foil a concentrated effort by all the goblins to come at him together while waiting for a single goblin to find the courage to attack alone. That way he could kill them one at a time, conserving his energy and strength. The strategy worked more often than not, but the ugly little creatures were unbelievably fast and resilient.

After he had killed all but one of the nasty little creatures, he allowed himself to relax a little. He had refrained from using magic to kill the goblins, enjoying the practice with his blade. When the last goblin made a hasty lunge, Thad reflexively stepped aside bringing his sword down hard, neatly severing the creatures head from its neck. Watching the head roll to a stop, he felt regret that the fight had ended so abruptly. Dancing with his blade allowed him to forget that he was lost and alone in the darkness, at least for a time.

With the battle over, his next task was to make sure he could make the cavern defensible with the meager resources he possessed. It had five large openings and two smaller ones, leading off into the darkness. All he had to use at the moment was one small piece of metal that wouldn’t even stretch enough to cover one of the openings, much less seven.

Not willing to give up, Thad continued looking for ways to defend his new temporary home. On one of the dead goblins he found a piece of unrefined ore. It wasn’t much and after he purified the ore it would only amount to what he already carried.

After searching the bodies of the goblins and finding nothing else of use and still tingling with energy from the fight, he dragged them down one of the larger two at a time. Once they were far enough away that he didn’t think the smell of their bloating bodies would bother him, or attract other unwanted guests to his new home, Thad headed back to deal with the large and very dead toad.

He shifted into his magesight to inspected the toad and found that while the meat was edible it was mostly made up of fat and fluid. Shrugging his shoulders, he reasoned that it would still feed him for a few days. Unable to block the entrances into the cavern, Thad began looking for someplace to rest until he could recover his strength and start his looking for resources.

After searching every inch of the walls, his staff blazing with bright light, Thad didn’t find one place suitable to rest. His only choice left and that was to make one for himself. It was risky, using his magic to carve the stone, as the potential for a cave-in was high. Sighing audibly, he resigned himself to the task.

Finding a somewhat suitable location, he began to chip away at the stone with his magic, blasting small sections away at a time. It was easy at first, but the more he worked the harder it became. He needed to keep the entrance as small as possible while making the inside wider. In the end he was forced down onto his hands and knees, dragging out the rubble after each blast. When he finished, his magical reserves were almost depleted, so he wearily crawled inside and quickly erected his metal door using the last bit of his magical of his magical energy.

Thad wasn’t physically tired but he was severely mentally fatigued, and with his magical strength gone he was vulnerable in the open. Propping his staff up against the wall Thad let its light extinguish and activated his light ring. With little else to do, he followed his normal routine and checked the sending box for any news from the princess. Opening it he was relieved and happy to see a small helping of dried meat along with a new letter. He opened the letter he hastily while shoving a piece of meat into his mouth.

Thad,

I hope the day finds you well. I haven’t heard from you in some time but since the box is always empty the morning after I use it, I assume you’re still alive. If you get the chance, I would like to hear from you so I know I’m not just feeding some monster that has your end of the box.

There still has been no news of Eloen. The creepy man in black has been back and has become a sinister nuisance. Mother still doesn’t know what to do about him. I’ve heard her say, that if this had been the past, she could have simply ordered him to leave or threaten to throw him in the dungeon, but with the current atmosphere she is afraid it would undermine the new laws.

The rebellion has been put down or smothered depending on how you look at it. Mother has also started to crack down hard on any who have ignored her royal decree. To prove her goodwill she has even gone so far as to buy the young man who sent her that beautiful glass sculpture of Fort Southpass his own shop within the capital. . If any of the nobles knew she had done that, she would be ridiculed by them, so she keeps it secret for now. It’s enough to show visible progress to the commoners I guess.

Well I better turn in for the night. Early tomorrow mother has a meeting with the king of Rane, and she expects me to be there. Hope to hear from you soon.

Your friend Maria.

Thad read the letter four times before finally folding it up and gently adding it to the others. He was worried about Eloen, but there was nothing he could do for her at the moment. He couldn’t even get himself out of the trouble he was in.

Laying his head back against his pack he tried to envision different ways to block off the tunnels leading into the cavern, while still allowing him a way out when he needed it. Using boulders was one way, but every time he wanted to leave and return, he would have to move them and that would not be a fast process. Sitting back in the darkness and mulling over the different ways to solve the problem, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER II

When Thad woke from his nap he was still magically fatigued but he figured he was strong enough for a few hours of work. After listening for any sounds of enemies, he lowered the metal door and carefully crawled from his nook. The meat he had cut from the frog still lay stacked in the corner of the cavern where it was the coolest. It had been grisly work and contributed to the miasma of stench that enveloped him but he had tried his best to wash off the worst before going to sleep. There was always the fear it would draw predators but there was little else he could do with it at the time.

Thad had awoken with an idea. He had spent countless hours examining things with his magesight to check their compatibility with magic or their internal integrity. He figured that he should also be able to search for certain items the same way he had for his magical items back in the Ablaian prison. With the discovery of this new ability to coax his magic to flow into the things he wanted, instead of forcing it to his will, he was excited to learn if this new application would work for a lot more projects that he had in mind.

Thad almost closed his eyes to begin the search then nearly slapped himself for his own stupidity. It was dangerous enough in the caves with his light, leaving himself exposed and vulnerable while searching was moronic. Mentally kicking himself, Thad moved back into his little cubbyhole and replaced the metal door. Once safely tucked away he closed his eyes and began his search.

The area directly surrounding him shined like a beacon to his magesight. It wasn’t just the gems. He could see the very flow of the elemental lines running through the earth. It was extremely strong and almost seemed to be pulsing around him. He wondered to himself whether the gems had created the excess flow of magical energy or if it was the other way around.

At first he tried to move the magical searching in a three hundred and sixty degree pattern but soon that became too great of a strain. He then switched to searching smaller areas little by little until he found what he was looking for. About two hundred feet down the path he had taken originally to get into the cavern there was a large deposit of copper. Not the best metal for enchanting. It was too soft and he knew from experience that it would bleed off too much magical power, but it was better than nothing.

Emerging from his hidden nook, Thad moved quickly towards where he had sensed the supply of metal. It didn’t take long to make his way to the spot where he was sure the metal was located. He could think of no delicate way to get to the ore so he began blasting at the wall with magic. He started to get worried when a few small pebbles from the ceiling rained down on his head but shrugged it off when nothing else happened.

After the first few blasts, Thad could see the copper peeking through the rock. If his magic was up to full strength, he could have simply touched the metal and had it condense into his hand in pure form. But with depleted strength his only option was to continue to cut out chunks of rock and carry it back to his new home until he regained his strength.

Thad’s pack was bulging with the copper ore when he finished. It had been a rich vein with plenty more left for future needs. He wasn’t sure how much he would need but he had pushed himself to his limit and didn’t want stress his power anymore. He didn’t think passing out in the middle of a dark tunnel where any of the denizens of the dark could find him was the best choice in ways to die.

Back in the cavern Thad quickly unloaded his burden and crawled back into his alcove. With his mind fuzzy he put up his metal door and quickly crumpled onto the floor. While he had learned an easier way to control his magic, it also allowed him to push much farther then before without feeling the effects as severely. The downside was that when he had pushed himself farther than his body could take, and it was beginning to shut down. He had tried to learn where his limits were but he started to understand that it depended a lot on the flow of the elements around him. Some elemental magic tired him faster than others. If he was going to continue to dig ore out of the rock he was going to have to find a better way.

The next morning Thad refined the ore and found it was much easier to work within the cavern itself. The elemental earth magic jumped to his call as he worked the metal from its rock prison. When he was finished Thad had three balls of pure copper the size of apples. One ball should be the right size to cover one of the smaller entrances but it would take two or three to cover some of the larger ones.

The frog meat still sat in the corner on the cool ground. He knew if he waited too much longer it would spoil. Conjuring up a magical fire he quickly began cooking the meat, stuffing cooked pieces in his mouth hungrily. It didn’t take long, and once finished he placed the meat in his cubbyhole and replaced the metal door hoping it would keep the smell from any nearby predators.

After filling his canteen up with water from the small pool, Thad made his way back down the passage to where the copper ore was located. Once there he didn’t start blasting away the rocks as he had before. Thad carefully examined the rock thinking of a different way he could get to the metal using the forces of earth instead of raw magical power.

Thinking back to his fight in the capital, Thad closed his eyes and tried to liquefy the stone. Reaching his hand in he was able to grab hold of the ore but it had turned to a semisolid state along with the surrounding rock. Focusing harder, he examined the stone wall. Down at its very core the rock was just tiny bits that had fused together. Stepping back, he placed his staff against the wall. At first nothing happened but then the wall started to into hard gray sand that flowed faster and faster to the ground.

Once he had the technique figured out it didn’t take long for Thad to begin to fill his sack with fist size chunks of copper. The amount of sand at his feet was growing deeper by the moment, as he had to remove more and more rock to get at the prized metal. Absorbed in his work, Thad didn’t realize his mistake until parts of the rock wall began to crumble and fall down on him.

Reacting fast, he quickly activated his shield up as he grabbed his pack from the ground. Running to keep ahead of the rapidly collapsing tunnel, he mentally kicked himself for making yet another mistake. The noise of the collapse followed him back to the cavern but he was hugely relieved to see it slow down and then stop before reaching the entrance.

Berating his own stupidity, Thad checked the damage once the dust cleared. The small tunnel had been completely sealed off with hardly a crack for an insect to pass through. The only upside to the whole situation was that he had one less entrance to seal.

Thad looked over his supply of copper. It should be more than enough to close off the passageways if spread thin but it would do very little to stop most of the creatures that roamed the underground networks. He could always magically strengthen the metal but that would increase the difficulty of entering and leaving the cavern. There were plenty of gems to use but what enchantments would work the best? A shield would work but it would have to be constantly activated and that would take massive amounts of magical energy.

Not wanting to waste precious energy while thinking, Thad returned to his small cubbyhole, and sealed himself in. While his brain churned through possible solutions, he scratched out a quick letter to the princess and placed it in the sending box so that as soon as it was charged it would reach her. He had food and water for a few days so it was a perfect time to let her know of his current condition.

There were hundreds of ways to make the doors stronger or make them easier to access but he wanted the one that would work the best. He had plenty of gems to use but he didn’t want to make it overly complex. Each new gem that had to be linked would add hours to the planning and work process. After giving it a lot of thought, Thad finally decided the best choice would be to have five linked enchantments. The first would be a shield that would activate when any movement within a certain range happened. He wasn’t sure if it was possible to have the trigger of an enchantment be movement but it was worth a try. The next two enchantments in the chain could be activated by his staff to bypass the first. The last two would simply be assigned to make the metal barrier open then close after his passing.

This would allow him to use a minimal amount of effort to place and use the doors. He would still have to link quite a few enchantments for the opening and closing of the barriers but it was much better than having an overly complex setup for was only to be a temporary sanctuary.

Thad decided the largest of the tunnels should be closed off first and went straight to work. He started by setting up a thin metal frame around the tunnel mouth to hold the gems and be the main core of the enchantments. The opening and closing enchantment for the door was just a variation of one of the swords he carried. Those being known to him were the first placed.

Once all the tunnels had their frames in place and sealed, along with more than enough gems linked for his remaining enchantments, he breathed a sigh of relief. They wouldn’t hold against a determined foe just yet but it was a start. Now all he had to do was perfect the new enchantments and place them. He was anxious to get this first stage finished so that he could mentally and physically allow himself to relax in protected shelter.

Using the left-over copper, Thad made a smaller version of the shield he had used back in the Farlan palace to protect the princess and queen. This difference now was the activation key was movement instead of a word. It worked but the second set of enchantment that was meant to recognize him failed to activate correctly. It took him three more tries before he found the problem and was able to bypass it.

The enchantment did recognize him but it had also picked up the movement of his clothing and equipment. After figuring that out, Thad simply had to adjust the enchantment to allow anything through as long as he was present within a certain distance of the item. It meant that if he was being chased, anything too close would still be able to follow him through. In his mind that was still better than being trapped on the outside of the barrier with who knew how many other things coming after him.

Even with the enchantments figured out, it still took a fair amount of time to get everything ready and a staggering amount of magic for the larger doors. Thad had no way to measure the time it took to finish, but when everything was finally done, he was confident that nothing would be able to reach him while he was in his sanctuary.

With his temporary home secure, he still left with a multitude of problems. The water would last for far longer than needed but he was running low on food and if he wanted to make any items to help himself, he would need more metal; preferably iron, gold, or silver. If that wasn’t possible, he would even take copper.

The main problem with finding more metal, was the vast amounts of magic it required to search for it. He was in a room filled with a large amount of gems as well as more earth elemental magic than he had ever felt before. There had to be a way to use that to his advantage. He knew that it would allow him to use any magic rooted in the earth elemental much easier and to a much better effect, but that wasn’t enough. He needed a way to harness it more effectively. His body could only handle so much magical influence before it would begin to shut down.

Thad’s first thought of his staff. It had been created to handle massive amounts of magic where his body could not. It was like a giant cistern that collected magic and allowed him to direct its flow where he wanted it. The only trouble is that what he wanted was more than simply directing the flow. He had never tried giving his staff a set of parameters to work from but he didn’t see the harm in trying. The worst that could happen was failure right?

Clearing off a comfortable space, Thad sat his staff across his legs and began to focus. At first he tried giving his staff a set of parameters to find something in his nearby pack. When nothing happened, he got slightly annoyed and tried to simplify the set of instructions. Still nothing happened.

Thad sat with his staff for hours, trying to figure out any way to get his idea to work. From what he read of the magic book it should be more than possible. Back in the Ablaian prison he was able to call the staff to his hand just by thinking of it.

As Thad thought of his time in the Ablaian prison an idea struck him. It was so simple he wasn’t sure why he didn’t think of it first. Maybe he was making this harder than it had to be. Closing his eyes Thad tried to send a mental image of the item he wanted. He nearly jumped for joy when the staff sent out a small pulse of magic and then an image of his bag not far away popped into his mind. It was a great accomplishment but also slightly disquieting. It meant that his staff had more self-awareness than he would have thought possible. The magic book had said magical items could become semi-sentient but he hadn’t given that a second thought, until now.

Thad communicated with his staff through mental images and thoughts until he grew tired. It was nice to be able to lie down and stretch out for once. It would be hard to leave this place after he had everything he needed to move on but he couldn’t live underground forever. At some point soon, he would have to find his way out of these cursed tunnels and back into the world above.

When he woke, Thad grabbed his staff and began his search for materials. Even with the help of his staff it took a long time to find anything close enough to a tunnel to be of use. When he finally found a large supply of iron, it was more than an hour’s walk from his cavern. With all the twists and turns, he was more than a little afraid he would be unable to find his way back. More than once he had to force his fears aside to continue on toward his goal.

When he reached the point the staff had indicated, he found a massive amount of metal just waiting. He didn’t even have to cut into the wall much to extract his prize, since there were large chunks of iron ore jutting from the rock face. Within minutes he had his pack laden with ore and was on his way back toward his cavern. He didn’t know why he was so fearful of getting lost. With his staff to help guide him, he could have been days away and still found his way back. As he thought of that he wondered if his staff could locate an exit back to the surface. As soon as the thought hit him, he wanted to try it immediately but he knew that searching took a lot of concentration and doing it while exposed would be stupid.

As soon as he was back in the cavern and had double checked all the doors to make sure they were sealed shut, Thad took a comfortable seat on the ground and began his search. He wasn’t sure how long he had sat during his search but when he finally opened his eyes, his stomach was grumbling loudly. He hadn’t been able to find anything but he still had hope there had to be more than one way into the underground network of tunnels and caverns. It just didn’t make sense for there not to be.

After a quick meal, Thad began working on different rings and other items that might come in handy in his trek through the tunnels. The biggest problem he had was a lack of distance weapons. He didn’t have a bow or the skill to use one. He needed something that would allow him to take out his enemies from a distance without the use of his magic. All too often his magic caused unexpected consequences within the confined spaces.

Growing up, he enjoyed the stories where the young hero chased away the beast with his sling. Thad’s first few attempts at making a magic long range weapon failed miserably, mainly due to the fact that the exposed crystal sooner or later would connect with a hard surface and explode. After many tries he found a solution to his problem. If he enfolded the crystal completely in an inch layer of metal it allowed the slug to fly without fear of breaking the core. There was still a chance of damaging the body of the enchantment so he added another small layer of strengthened metal over the first.

The enchantment was fairly simple, when triggered it just told the slug to fly straight with incredible speed in the direction of its current momentum. It was strong enough that when shot at a wall, it would imbed itself over an inch deep in the hard surface. The only problem Thad could see was finding all the slugs after they were used. While a good idea here in the confines of the caves, in an open space they would travel extreme distances before stopping. To rectify these problems, he put a limit on the distance the slug could travel before the force on the slug changed forcing it to the ground. Then he linked the slugs to a ring that would bring them back to his hand. The ring wasn’t perfect and could only be used ten times before it was exhausted, but it was better than having to make new slugs every time he fired one off.

He made three pouches of ten slugs, each one with a ring. He doubted he would need more than that, but if so he still had his magic as well as his sword for up close and personal work.

Feeling warm from his accomplishments so far, now all he needed was to make the normal items. A few shield rings, paralyzing rings, and a few more lightning devices so he could save his energy while traveling. Thad knew it would take a lot of work to make enough rings to allow him to travel for long periods of time without running out when the best rings only lasted six hours and took three days to recharge.

Grateful that boredom was not a problem. Thad had other ideas as well he wanted to try. First was the possibility of an enchantment that would allow him to stay clean. No one else was here to smell him, but the scent coming from his own body made it hard to sleep. He had tried to wash off in the small pool, and while it took off the worst of the grime and smell, without any soap it was a temporary fix at best.

CHAPTER III

Thad lounged back in his stone chair covered in giant lizard skins talking to himself. He had long since lost track of how long he had been holed up in the cavern. It had proved a far better living space than he could have imagined when he discovered a large group of lizards that lived down one of the tunnels. They were easy to kill and offered littletor no physical threat. They were slightly larger than a human on all fours and were slow spending most of their time eating the small bugs that crawled all over the underground tunnels.

After watching the creatures for a span of days Thad learned they were the main source of food for the goblins that must have their main lair nearby. He was careful when he went out to make sure he never encountered any of the mean little creatures.

The only real enemy he had was loneliness. Even the princess’s letters had stopped some time ago. He didn’t know what was going on in the palace and had no way to learn. It worried him more than a little but he had his own problems to deal with.

Thad spent most of his time using his staff to look for an exit, only taking breaks when he had more urgent needs. He had learned his staff had thoughts of its own though they were chaotic and seldom made sense to him.

“I wonder if the goblins know a way out.” Thad said to the air.

A picture of an underground river flashed through his mind. “Yes, yes you keep bringing up that river but there is no telling where it leads.”

Suddenly his mind was flooded with images of lakes, ponds and oceans. “That’s true it has to lead somewhere. But I’m afraid to go any deeper.”

In response the staff showed him as an old man lounging back in his chair. “I’m not going to stay in this room until I die. I swear you just like to get my hackles up you dried up piece of driftwood.” Thad yelled at the staff in his hands.

Pictures from his life pounded into his mind. Each picture showing a less than brilliant decisions on his part, usually coupled with the women who surrounded his life. “Enough! I know I don’t always make the best decision.”

Setting his staff down Thad walked over to the pool of water in the corner of the room. His reflection from the still water was nearly unrecognizable. His clothes were dirty and tattered, and a thin film of dirt covered his exposed skin. His light blond hair looked more dusty gray hanging past his shoulders in a gnarled mess. He had tried to make a magical cleaning device but it had worked a little too well nearly skinning him alive. His skin had been bright pink and very touchy for a few days after that.

More than once he had thought of swimming in the small pool but the idea of contaminating his only supply of water for a few relaxing moments didn’t seem worth it. Instead he had settled with using a stone bowl every few days to wash himself off. It didn’t do a lot of good only using his hands but it did remove the largest portions of dirt from his skin and hair.

Thad knew he had to leave his sanctuary soon. He had already stayed far longer than he had originally planned. At first it was easy to find a reason to stay a day or two extra after he had finished all the preparations for his journey. I might find a closer exit. I need to test out another idea.

He had enough shield and light rings to last him days without ever having to go unprotected. Three large pieces of iron ore enchanted to make walls so that he could set up a safe room no matter where he decided to stop. He had even taken the time to remake his rune necklace that had been lost in the prison.

All that was left was to walk out one of the tunnel doors and continue on. His staff was right. The river did offer the best chance for an exit. Water had to flow somewhere. Looking over at his staff Thad shuddered. He hoped it had been his staff’s idea otherwise he was losing his mind.

Not wanting to give it too much more thought Thad began packing up his belongings. The magical items took up little room and were mostly kept to the side pockets of his travel sack. The main compartment was filled with dried meat and what little water he could carry with him. The walk to the underground river should take about two days in his mind. He should have enough water to hold him but he was fearful about food later on. He currently had enough stocked to last a fortnight or more if he rationed it but after that he would have to find a fresh supply.

A sudden idea hit him. He still needed some type of magic to replace his foot unless he wanted to support himself with his magic the whole time he traveled. Using his magic to keep himself up had become second nature to the point he hardly had to think of it anymore. His staff did most the work but there was still a steady draw on his power. If he could use a magical enchantment to replace the use of his personal magic then he could travel much longer without having to rest, and in the eventuality of an attack would have a longer reserve of magic to draw on.

A thrill of excitement ran through him at the prospect of the new project. His staff continued to send pictures of him as an old man in the cavern but Thad dismissed them. This was his last project before he left.

Thad’s first thought was to make it much the same way he had made the illusionary horse back in the duchess’s castle. Not real, yet with enough substance to serve as a replacement leg. A normal illusion took very little magic to create and even less to hold in place. All it really needed to do was bend the light to make people see what he wished. Adding substance to the illusion used five times the magical reserve but if he could have something that looked and functioned like a real foot it would be worth the added strain.

He had made illusion enchantments before but he had never had one that was attached to a specific location. In this case his leg. His first attempt was an utter failure. It was easy to make the illusion look like a booted foot, but another altogether to make it move with him. The problem was the illusion’s movement had to be pre decided. That was easy if he made calculated strides but the second he made a turn or a short step he found himself falling painfully to the floor.

He tried different ways to make it work but in the end he had to give up on using an illusion alone. The only other idea he had was to use an adaptation of the spell he was already using to keep himself up. It was simple, like the enchantment he had used on the battle vestments of the Farlan soldiers; it sensed movement and reacted with a predetermined amount of force. The first time he had used the spell he had winged it but during his time wandering the dark tunnels he had perfected the technique.

It wasn’t hard to enchant a thin sheet of metal to use the same spell. The hard part was attaching the metal to his stub so it worked correctly. The only way he could make sure it stayed in place was to force the metal to clamp around his stub. It took a few tries to make sure the metal cover didn’t cut off circulation but after a few tries and using some cut strips of lizard skin as padding he had it finished. The only real downside was that the enchantment would only work for a short period of time before it would need to recharge.

Thad’s first reaction was to make a dozen or so of the cuffs but that would take up precious room. Not to mention the time it would take to change them out when their power expired. The solution seemed simple to Thad though he wasn’t quite sure how it would work in practice. He could simply place the same enchantment using different gems as cores with the same body. The problem was how to make sure they worked independently when they were needed and not all at the same time.

The first try he tried to simply link the gems placed in the metal, and add a second enchantment to regulate the amount of magic used. The basic thought was that with more gems the spell would be able to last longer. It worked but still left the problem with recharging, with them linked they didn’t recharge individually but as a group, making it much slower just like with the output the lead core was the only one that absorbed the magic.

After countless different methods he finally struck the right design. He placed the gems in a circular link with each one having its own unique link to the body. It also required them to be linked to a central core but its only real job was to switch from one core to another when the power level dropped below a predetermined level. He had tried the same thing countless times in other forms but in the end they all had to be linked in a circular pattern with only one link to each other and one to the central core.

He wasn’t quite sure why it worked the way it did. The best guess he had was that he was trying to make it too complicated. He thought about adding an illusionary enchantment that would make it look like he had a foot but it seemed foolish to fall for such vanity when no one was around to care.

With everything ready he made one last look around what had been a home to him even if for only a short time, and he felt nervous about leaving to once again travel through the dark alone. He thought for a moment to stay and make one final enchantment that would make it easier to find his way back should the need occur but his staff once again filled his mind with pictures of him as an old man lounging in his stone chair.

Thad didn’t know how long he had stayed in his stone sanctuary but being surrounded by the eerie darkness once again seemed almost new to him. It didn’t take long for him to miss the safety and comfort he had grown accustomed to. With every step more doubts crept into his mind. Every noise that echoed in the dark made him jump. More than once he had to steel his nerves to keep himself from running back the way he had come. Whenever he was near his breaking point his staff would nudge him along with pictures of the underground river that lay ahead.

For the first time he could remember he was naturally tired well before he had to use his magic. Even when he lived in the cavern he had relied on his magic to move around and he usually fatigued far before he needed to sleep. It was a unique feeling to be genuinely tired for once.

The tunnel was narrow enough that Thad only needed to use two of his magical walls to create a safe and comfortable space for him to rest. Laying down his mat Thad stretched out using a rolled up lizard skin he had brought with him as a pillow. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world but it was worlds better than banging his head around on the hard ground.

After checking to make sure that nothing had been sent through the sending box Thad penned a quick note on one of his last remaining pieces of parchment and added it to the small stack that already resided within the box. With nothing else to do and while tired Thad wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep so he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

The elemental flow of the narrow passage was vastly different than that of the cavern he had been living in. Instead of being flooded with earth energy it only had a slow flow of earth magic trickling through the area. It was laced by a small amount of water but the darkness element held the primary power in his current area.

Thad had never dealt with dark elemental magic. He supposed he could use it much the same way he used the light one to take away light from an area but at the moment he couldn’t see the immediate use of such knowledge since the enemies he would face had the advantage in the dark. He knew that he could use light as a weapon as well if he concentrated it into a tight enough pattern. He wondered if he could do the same with the dark element.

Concentrating on the darkness Thad tried to make a thin beam the same way he would with light. It was a massive draw even with the high levels of dark elemental energy around him. He focused the attack on a small rock that stuck awkwardly from the rock face. With the area completely covered in darkness it was impossible to tell what was going on.

When Thad canceled the spell the upper section of the rock was gone. It wasn’t burnt away like it would have been with a concentrated light spell but it looked as if it had simply vanished. Thad wasn’t sure how the spell worked but it was obvious the spell was dangerous and costly. He decided after that until he could completely study the spell it shouldn’t be used. He had already had enough of spells backfiring because he didn’t give them the proper respect.

The next day it was much easier to keep moving along the tunnel as it began to widen slightly taking away some of the closed in feeling he was having the day before. With the widening of the tunnel also came more danger as his light failed to light up both walls. Thad didn’t really mind the increased danger. At this point he would almost welcome an attack. It would get rid of the constant boredom of staring into the endless darkness as well as giving him a chance to test out some of his new toys.

Thad placed his hand in one of the pouches on the side of his pack eagerly rubbing his fingers over one of the plum sized magical slugs he had made. He had used them on the slow moving lizards in the caves but that had hardly been a true test of their ability in battle. His request went unanswered as his trek through the endless darkness went unchallenged.

As the day wore on the hope of reaching the underground river began to dwindle. Beginning to tire but not wanting to give up if he was getting close, Thad stopped for a brief moment. It didn’t take long to use his staff to search for the river which showed up as a massive blue glow to his magical sight. It was still a few miles away and while above ground that could be made in under an hour even at a slow pace, underground it could take three times as long depending on the terrain he would be forced to cross.

With the uncertainly of reaching the river soon, Thad decided to stop for the night. Using his three magical walls he set up a quick room. Safe behind his metal walls Thad used his staff to search the paths up and down the river. He had tried before back in his cavern but because of the distance it had been extremely hard and time consuming for every inch he had checked. Now that he was close he could easily search about four miles in either direction with only a minor drain. One way ended after a few miles but the other seemed to stretch on for far longer than he could survey even as close as he was.

Thad had hoped that when he reached the river he would be able to quickly trace its roots to an exit but that seemed less likely. Now all he could do was either turn back or follow the only direction left to him and hope it led him to an exit. The second the idea of turning back shot through his mind it was quickly followed by a barrage of dissenting images from his staff.

Looking down at his staff Thad silently longed for the days when it was just a simple tool for his use. The staff obviously not enjoying the current thoughts sent a jab of pain into his head. What Thad figured was its equivalent to a slap.

Thad couldn’t help himself and laughed lightly at the object held in his hand. “Who am I kidding? If I haven’t gone insane yet, I sure would have if I was left alone with only my own thoughts. While you’re a pain in the ass sometimes at least you’re something to talk to.”

The staff answered back with a warm feeling. Even though Thad had gotten used to talking to his staff, lately it had gotten a little more intense. At first it had only been able to send him pictures when he opened his mind and started the communication, now it could do so at will. It had even moved beyond that lately transferring feelings and emotions as well.

With little else to do, and not wanting to turn in just yet Thad pulled the last letter he had received from the princess. He had read the letter many times, each time hoping to find the reason to why she had gone silent.

Thad it is good to hear you are doing well. I hope you will find your way home to us soon. Things have been a little hectic around the palace since you have been gone. Mother has got all but two of the nobles in line with the new laws. Lady Demit, and Lady Spencer are proving to be the most difficult.

That aside, the black cloaked man has continued to return and mother’s spies informed her that a large number of his friends are staying at one of the local inns. He still refuses to tell us what he wants with the information. He just demands that mother release all knowledge she has of you and your current whereabouts.

Mother has played it cool so far. Telling the man little tidbits of information. She swears that last she had heard you had fallen in the battle of Southpass and were now in the hands of the Ablaians. He has taken the information in stride and as far as I can tell has never been happy or depressed about it, but he continues to return with more questions.

Tomorrow is my thirteenth birthday so I must get ready for the coming party. It will not be the same without you. I hope you are able to make it back to us soon.

Your friend Maria.

Thad folded the note back up and placed it carefully in his pack. Had something happened at the party? Even if he knew in what direction the palace was, and he could search that far all he would be able to see would be the magical array surrounding the area. It was like looking at a painting through a broken bottle. You got the general idea of what was going on but nothing detailed.

It was frustrating to think one of his friends might be in danger and he was helpless to save them. In his case it was a fact of life. Right now stuck who knows how far below the surface of the earth he could barely help himself.

That night as he slept Thad’s dreams were filled with the princess. Who was chained to a wall much the same way he had been in his stay in the palace dungeons. She was crying for him to save her, but as hard as he ran he only drifted farther away. Then the dream changed and it was Monique who was trapped in a dirty ally. The dream shifted again and he found himself staring at Eloen who sat on the ground of a sloping hill pounding her fist on a freshly dug grave weeping openly.

The visions of the three women who he had cared for in such pain forced him to wake in a cold sweat. After a few minutes he was able to stop his shaking body. Reassuring himself that it was only a dream then laid back down and fell into a far from peaceful sleep.

CHAPTER IV

Thad reached the underground river shortly after he began his third day in the lightless tunnels. The river wasn’t overly large at only five feet across and between five and six feet deep. The one thing that did catch his attention was the glowing masses that darted around under the dark water.

Using his magic Thad lit up a large area of the water to find glowing fish swimming around in its depths. They were of all different sizes and shapes. Most of them looked ugly with bulbous faces and no eyes that Thad could see. How the fish looked meant little to him, his main concern was if they were edible and if the water was drinkable. If not he was going to be in for a very uncomfortable next few days.

His first task would be catching one of the fish. It seemed an easy enough task. Using one of his rings Thad sent a stunning blast into the water catching two of the fish in its blast. The water was moving much faster than he had anticipated and the fish were quickly swept out of sight.

On the next try instead of paralyzing the fish he simply used his own stores of magic to grab ahold of one and yank it from the moving water. Once the fish was on dry land he quickly stunned it so that it couldn’t flip itself back into the water.

The fish looked much like a salmon though its head was much larger than the rest of its body and its scales glowed like a candle. Focusing on the fish he studied it intently with his magic until he was sure that eating it posed no threat to him. The only thing he dreaded was the first taste. It might be edible but that didn’t insure it would taste good. He still remembered the first time he had eaten one of the cave lizards. While filling, the taste made him think of what his boots must taste like soaked in sweat after a long days walk.

The water would be drinkable after a small amount of cleaning. It wasn’t dangerous without it but the water did hold a small amount of metal dissolved within it. With a semi-clean supply of water and plenty of fresh meat his day was looking up. He had skipped breaking his fast so he figured now was good a time as any to try out his new meat.

It didn’t take long to set up two of his walls for protection. He thought about setting up all three but it didn’t seem necessary unless the water was hiding some dangerous beast. The more he thought about it the more likely it seemed but it wasn’t as if he was going to sleep.

Thad didn’t have any wood to cook with but he had learned that he could easily cook the meat using heat without fire. All he had to do was arrange a few stones as if he were building a fire. He placed the meat on the stones and then concentrated on them heating up. Within moments the stones would start glowing a bright red. Thad was sure it would also work well for smoking but it was one thing he had been unable to figure out how to make an enchantment to do for him. And while the magic involved was not great, having to sit there and concentrate for hours on end while the meat dried didn’t seem like a good use of his time. Not to mention the energy used would offset the benefit.

After his meal was cooked Thad knocked the still glowing stones into the water. He had learned what a hot stone could do to an exposed foot and was in no hurry to experience it again. The fish smelled appetizing and thankfully it’s glowing ended when it had been descaled. Thad had eaten a lot of unappetizing things in his life but he didn’t think he could eat something that glowed in the dark.

He anxiously took his first bite chewing it slowly. It was a very juicy and tender, its flavor was odd but not in a bad way. As he ate Thad thought back to his time at the palace and how the cook often had sent out a rich butter sauce with the fish.

As he ate Thad watched the fish swimming and remembered how the mages of the past had made a moss that filtered smell as well as a small organism that ate waste, breaking it down into the best fertilizer found in the northern kingdoms. Had they studied other living things that could produce the same effect and isolated the beings particular skill? If that was true Thad might be able to learn how to make something glow without the constant draw of magic if he studied the unique fish.

He had plenty of time while he walked and thanks to all of his enchantments his magic was mostly freed up. There would be a slight chance that it would distract him from noticing an impending danger. After giving it a lot of though he decided it would be more prudent to stop a little earlier and study the fish before he laid down to sleep rather than risking getting himself injured by inattentiveness.

With his meal finished Thad took down his magical walls and started his walk following the river. Most of the time the tunnel allowed him plenty of room but every so often the path would disappear. The first time this happened it took Thad awhile to figure out how to continue on. He could see where the tunnel widened more but at the fast pace the water was traveling there was no telling how far it would sweep him downriver if he tried to swim. Not to mention it would be impossible to tell if all his magical items would survive the trip.

He had finally tried a series of different maneuvers to cross the water. After a few attempts he had found a successful tactic. All he had to do was cast the same spell on his left foot that was on his right stump. The added height did make him a little off-balance when he stepped but it allowed him to walk on the water with little trouble. Though the water wasn’t hard it still registered as a solid object below him and the spell responded in the same way pushing him up.

As long as he didn’t stand still for more than a few seconds he could move across the water’s surface without trouble. He wasn’t sure why the water just didn’t part sending him to the bottom of the river but who was he to argue with what worked.

The first day of travel went well all things considered. And when he found a place where the tunnel widened giving him plenty of room for his magical walls Thad decided to stop for the night. He started off with only two walls that stretched almost to the edges of the water. He knew before he lay down to sleep he would have to completely close off the small room, but this allowed him a measure of protection while still allowing him access to the water and glowing fish.

After eating two of the fish Thad pulled a third one up to study. The creature was fascinating. He didn’t know why he didn’t notice while he was flaying the creatures but their scales were translucent and some type of liquid coated them on the inside. Once exposed to air the liquid glowed for a short time on his fingers but began to dim quickly. The only problem he ran into was that the fish died too quickly once outside of the water for an in-depth study of the animal.

His mind still deep in thought Thad placed the last wall up closing himself off from the world around him. Laying back on the ground he tried to think of different ways he might be able to reproduce the fish’s effect in other animals or plants. Remembering the queen’s gardens and the glowing lilies he made a mental note to study them when he returned. It was possible that they were natural but even if they were he might still be able to learn something from their study.

The next few days passed by quickly in a routine manner. With a supply of fresh water and food as well as the almost artistic glowing dance from the water the trip had so far been enjoyable. He was surprised he hadn’t encountered any other creatures in the dark. With such a large body of water he was sure that he would have to fight his way through many creatures that had already claimed dominion over the area. The fact he had been left to his own devices had been slightly depressing.

Everything seemed to be going well until Thad found himself staring into a clean rock face with no perceivable way to continue on. The water seemed to simply disappear into the rock. Using his mage sight he could see that it flowed into a massive underground cavern through a gap at the bottom of the river.

It was impossible to tell what exactly was on the other side. He knew it was filled with water with some room for air but it was hard to tell just using his magical sense. It still wasn’t too soon to turn back but at this point he didn’t really want to. He knew his staff was right if he didn’t force himself to continue on he might just find himself an old man puttering around in these caves waiting for death to claim him.

Following the river wasn’t a problem. All he had to do was jump in and swim to the bottom and let it carry him. The problem was keeping his belongings dry and safe with him. He didn’t want to lose the princess’s letters or any of his magical items. The answer seemed simple enough. All he had to do was form a shield around him that would hold out the water. The second problem was much harder. What would he do if the space further on didn’t have enough air for him to breathe? After surviving thus far he didn’t want it to end by drowning due to his own stupidity.

At first he had tried linking the shield to the ground above but after less than four hundred feet or so the magical drain became too much. After two days of endlessly trying to figure out a solution to his problem he was beginning to get agitated.

Gazing down at the fish swimming around he started wondering how they were able to breath underwater. Focusing on one of the larger creatures he followed it with his magical sense trying to see if he could figure out how it functioned. He could see that the gills pulled air from the very water as it passed through them.

The process seemed simple enough; all he had to do was get his shield to mimic the effect. It didn’t take long to get the basic feel for the spell down, now all he had to do was test it, and the only way to do that was to get in the water. If he did that he knew there was no coming back up. He wanted to just jump in and see what happened but his better judgment won the battle. While he could hold the spell for a good time, sooner or later he would need to take a break. He had brought gems and a small supply of metal with him. If he made some enchanted rings with the new shield spell it would give him a chance to rest even if he found himself in a place without air.

It took what he believed to be two days to get everything ready. He had made five rings though he hadn’t tested them. They each had two gems since he had been unable to make the new spell work as an individual enchantment. It was hard to tell how long they would last but there had only been minor changes in the shield composition to force it to keep out everything. He still believed it should last a good two to three hours before it began to wane.

Looking down into the dark water Thad took one final breath to steady his nerves and stepped over the edge. He didn’t fall straight down as he expected, as he forgot about the enchantment on his right foot that had him bobbing in and out of the water like a piece of driftwood.

Laughing at his own ineptitude Thad turned off the enchantment to his foot and let the water pull him down. It was an odd feeling being pulled under the water without any ever touching him. He had made his shield so it stayed close to his body to keep from wasting excess energy so the water was simply inches away yet he remained dry.

He was pulled along in the darkness for a long time. His new spell seemed to be working as expected as he hadn’t had any trouble breathing so far. The only trouble he ran into was when he could feel the weakening of his first ring. He hadn’t anticipated changing out his rings while he was still floating in the water. No matter how fast he was there would still be a brief moment where the water would be able to reach him. That didn’t seem bad on its own but if he was completely submerged when the second ring was activated the water would be trapped inside with him.

Thad didn’t have a long time to find a way around his current predicament so he did the first thing that came to mind. He cast a shield around his entire body around the one already encompassing it. Turning off one shield ring he quickly activated the next then let his own magical shield go. It had worked perfectly and he was still dry with a new ring powering his protection. He still had three rings left and didn’t want to use them unless he had to, in the event he was forced to sleep while still underwater.

When his second ring was about halfway through its magical reserve the underground river began to slow down. And within moments he found himself able to stand once again. Using one of his rings to illuminate the area Thad found himself in a wide cavern where the water had pooled into a large underground lake. He couldn’t see the walls of the cavern but that meant very little with his limited vision.

Thad continued on walking on top of the water. The main problem he faced was that without a point of reference it was hard to tell what direction he was heading. For all he knew he was walking in circles. When he finally found a small section of rock that jutted from the water big enough for him to lay on he decided it was a good time to stop and rest.

As far as he was concerned the day had been a success. He was no closer to an exit as far as he knew but his new spells had worked perfectly. So far he had to fight for every little piece of magic he had learned but lately it had come much more naturally to him. As long as he could figure out the principles the spell worked on it was easy to recreate it.

As much as he enjoyed using his magic he wished he had a fresh supply of wood to make a raft. While he was resting he picked up a small stone and tried to change it enough so that it would float but no matter what he tried the rock refused to stay above the water. He didn’t really expect the spell to work but it was something to occupy his time while his meal cooked.

That night he checked the sending box and was happy to find that it was empty. The fact that the princess had finally checked the box put a smile on his face. It would still be a few days before she could send a response but he could wait. He hoped everything was going well with her. He knew that her life could get busy at times but something inside him told him this wasn’t one of those times.

Setting aside his fears of things he couldn’t do anything about Thad focused on what he could control. At the moment that was finding the best direction to head. The underground lake stretched far in every direction and seemed to feed many different small rivers and streams. Many of them seemed promising but Thad decided to follow the largest one hoping it would have the biggest chance of leading him to the surface.

With his direction determined Thad cut a rough arrow in the stone for future reference. With his belly full and everything planned for the next leg of his journey Thad settled back trying to find a comfortable place to sleep. He knew that he was exposed but there was little he could do about it. There wasn’t enough room to use his magical walls. He turned on one of his shield rings but he knew it would expire long before he woke. He hadn’t seen anything dangerous in the water, though that meant very little, as the darkness was apt at hiding the creatures that prowled within.

When Thad woke he found that he had remained safe despite being unprotected. His dreams had been filled with countless monsters that his mind had created. Sleeping unprotected wasn’t something he wanted to do again if he could help it. Sooner or later he was sure his luck would run out.

It only took about half a day of travel to reach where the underground river broke away from the lake. The walls were still narrow, forcing him to continue walking on the water for quite a ways, but after what he believed was about two miles the walls of the tunnel widened enough for him to once again set his foot down on solid ground.

He wasn’t sure how long the small ledge would last so he used the chance to take a small break. With his walls up it left him just enough room to lie down comfortably. He wasn’t really tired but he had learned that he must take his rest where it could be found in safety. Closing his eyes Thad daydreamed until he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

CHAPTER V

Over the past few days the tunnel had widened greatly giving Thad plenty of room. He still hadn’t been able to locate an exit but he was still hopeful. If nothing else he was making an effort. It wasn’t as if the tunnels could stretch on forever without end. There had to be countless way back to the surface and all he had to do was find one of them.

The princess still hadn’t sent a message to him and that worried him far more than his lack of finding a way out. She had been one of his first real friends. If anything had happened to her Thad wasn’t sure what he would do. He still wasn’t sure if he had any romantic feelings toward Maria but he did know that he considered her very important in his life.

He had tried to push his worries aside but with only the darkness and the glowing fish to keep him company it was hard to do. His mind constantly conjured up the worst possible scenarios for both Eloen and Maria. He could usually put aside his fears for the princess she was well protected but it wouldn’t be impossible for her to be in danger. With Eloen it was a much different story. She had rushed into enemy territory after him. His only link to her was the princess and now with that cut there is no telling what had happened to her. It was very possible that she was in the very prison that once held him huddled in a cold corner crying for someone to save her.

Shaking the morose thoughts from his mind Thad continued his way down the dark corridor. The thoughts refused to be shaken from his mind easily so Thad tried to keep himself busy by studying the rock formations around him closely. It reminded him of his time spent as a youth watching the clouds. Most of the time they were simply rocks but every now and then one would look as if it had purposely been formed to look like something else.

As he studied the rocks he noticed one section of rock that looked as if it were moving. Secure in his own protection Thad let his curiosity get the better of him. The closer he got the more apparent it was that the rocks didn’t simply look as if they were moving but actually were.

The memory of the large rock snake that had nearly killed him shortly after he had entered into the depths of the underground forced its way into his thoughts. Thad nearly bolted but boredom mixed with curiosity won out over better judgment. He continued warily forward each step coming less confident than the last.

When he was no more than a few paces from the rocks it was easy for him to see that whatever was moving was no larger than a large dog. He could also hear a slight whining noise from the creature. Using his staff Thad cast a large ball of light above the area where the rocks moved letting him see the creature as if it was midday on the surface.

The creature looked like a mix between a large dog and a small horse. Its body while large had long legs that looked as if they were meant for running. Its head looked large and slightly off with sharp rows of teeth easily visible. Its eyes were what really caught Thad’s attention. They were like two large rubies that had been placed in front of a bright glowing candle. If Thad had met the creature without a shield he would have ran for his life. Even with his shield he still had the urge to run.

After the initial shock of seeing the creature Thad let his view widen and take in everything. The animal was obviously trapped by large boulders that had fallen around it. The poor creature continuously tried to move but the boulders held it fast in place. It was amazing that the thing could even stand given the sheer amount of weight that must have been on its back.

Thad couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor creature. In a way he was in the same situation. He was trapped though he was able to move he just couldn’t get out. He wanted to help it, but was afraid that if he did so it would attack and he would be forced to kill it. His mind warred with itself as Thad forced himself to move closer.

When Thad was no more than a foot from the beast it took notice of him. It didn’t snarl or bite at him as he expected. The creature simply looked at him and whined. As close as he was Thad could see that the creature didn’t have fur or even skin. Instead it looked as if the creature was completely made up of rock.

His mind made up Thad took a steady breath and prepared for the worst. His staff glowed brightly and the rocks holding the creature to the ground shifted and rose slowly. Thad had lifted a lot of things with his magic including a frog the size of a small cottage but the sheer weight of the rocks atop the creature was staggering. He wasn’t sure how long he could hold it but hoped the animal got the idea and ran the second it had the chance.

As soon as the weight was off the creature it jumped toward Thad making him flinch. The creature simply bounced off of his shield. Moving back it looked at Thad cocking its head slightly to the side its ruby eyes glowing brightly. Its ears moved slightly when Thad began to lower the boulders slowly back to the ground. The creature turned quickly and began to growl at the rocks.

With his work done and the creature safe Thad turned back toward the river. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he was being followed. The creature wasn’t exactly quiet it sounded as if an avalanche of rocks were chasing after him. Stopping for a moment Thad turned to find the rock dog right behind him its face contorted into what Thad figured was an off sided grin.

He got down on his knees so he was eye to eye with the creature who continued to look at him happily. Thad deactivated his shield ring but quickly replaced it using his own power only letting the palm of his hand go unprotected. Reaching out his hand he rubbed the animal on the top of its head. Its skin was smooth and cold and reminded him of the well-worn stone table he had often eaten on at the Slave Academy.

After a few moments the creature nudged Thad’s arm with its nose and began to jump around in a circle. It sounded like someone had begun beating on the ground with a large stick. After a few moments of scampering around the rock dog creature began circling around Thad. When it got to his pack the creature began trying to get at it with vigor.

The antics of the beast made him laugh. “Hungry are you boy?” Thad said pulling one of the last pieces of dried lizard he had left.

The creature sniffed at it for a few seconds then turned its head and began trying to get at Thad’s pack again. It left him wondering what the creature could be trying to get at. Thad pulled one thing at a time from his pack offering it to the creature. It wasn’t until Thad pulled one of the large gems from his pack, that the creature went wild.

Thad wasn’t sure what the creature wanted with the gem but offered it to him anyway. As soon as the gem was cleared of the protection of Thad’s shield the rock dog jumped on the crystal sucking the whole thing into its mouth. The creature didn’t chew on the gems it simply swallowed the gem whole. With its meal finished the rock creature began to bounce around Thad again making a sound that sounded like someone banging a hammer on a rock.

If the creature ate a gem that size a day it would cost Thad a fortune to keep the creature fed. He only had about five that size left in his pack along with a handful of smaller ones, but he had hoped to save those in case he needed them to make enchantments.

Thad had hoped that the creature would amble off after it had been fed but it continued to follow him. At first the noisy creature grated on his nerves but after a short time he was starting to enjoy the silly antics of the beast. It would randomly stop to bark at the wall, well what Thad thought of as its bark though it sounded more like someone had started a small avalanche. The longer he spent with the animal the more he was sure that it was some type of subterranean dog.

When he decided to stop for the night the creature settled next to him resting its head on the ground. Unlike dogs its feet looked more like hoofs so it tucked them under its body. Looking down on the animal Thad had to be honest with himself he was glad to have the companionship. The staff flashed a picture of itself into his mind getting Thad to chuckle slightly.

If the creature was going to be spending much time with him he needed a name. “What sort of name would fit you?” Thad asked his new companion getting the creature to lift his head slightly from where it had rested. “Rocky, Rox, Quartz, Avalanche?” When Thad said avalanche the Dog gave out another one of its loud barks. “Avalanche it is.”

It sounded more like a girl’s name but honestly Thad couldn’t tell if the creature even had a sex. “Well Avalanche if you’re going to be sticking around for any amount of time we’re going to have to find a way to keep you fed. I don’t think what I have with me is going to last that long.” Thad said rubbing Avalanche’s head.

Avalanche eyes seemed to light up a little when he was being petted. With the animal sitting right next to him in a contented mood Thad figured it would be a good chance to learn more about it. Closing his eyes Thad let his magical sight take over.

Avalanche was indeed made of a rock-like substance though it appeared different than what was around him. Through his magical sight Avalanche looked much like his staff. His body radiated with magic, it flowed through its body much the way blood flowed through a humans. It didn’t have a heart but it did have a central core that all the magic flowed to and from. Thad couldn’t find a trace of the gem it had eaten earlier but made a point to pay more attention the next time Avalanche was feeding.

Thad didn’t think Avalanche had been made by a mage. If it had then it didn’t have a traditional body. Rock was nice and smooth but it didn’t take well to enchantments. The few times he had tried to use it for some of his more volatile spells it hadn’t worked at all. He couldn’t find any source of the actual spell so while Avalanche obviously had a core it wasn’t a true enchantment but some sort of magically occurring creature.

Watching Avalanche, Thad wondered if there were any more of its kind. Was it just a freak occurrence or was it a whole breed that thrived in the underground world. It was hard to imaging hundreds of Avalanches running around the subterranean networks. Then again he had already met more than one odd creature in the darkness. If he had two or three lifetimes to devote to the study of the massive underworld Thad wasn’t sure he could even make a dent in its hidden secrets.

When Thad put up the walls to his magical room Avalanche spent a good time walking around the interior of the room checking every corner. When it had finished its fourth round it laid down right next to Thad.

Closing his eyes Thad began his normal meditative state. Over the time Thad had gotten used to his staff’s influence on the magical currents that flowed around him. It wasn’t a large effect mostly it just drew power to it in a small manner. Avalanche did the same thing but in a much more pronounced fashion. Avalanche also emitted magic but only that of the earth element. It was odd and made it much more difficult to match his own internal magical senses with that of the world around him.

Thad looked down at Avalanche, amazed by the curious little beast. “What exactly are you?” Thad asked but Avalanche simply let out a low happy bark.

That night Thad’s mind went wild imagining all kinds of beasts that could roam the underground. His dreams were filled with things he had read about as a kid. Dwarfs, dragons, giant worms, and living darkness haunted his thoughts.

The next day Thad tried to feed Avalanche another gem but she didn’t seem to be hungry. He simply sniffed at the gem and then began bouncing around Thad. It didn’t bother Thad overly in truth he was a little relieved if Avalanche ate even once a day it would be hard to keep enough gems around to keep the thing happy.

Thad could have easily set up a shield and left the creature behind but the thought of having such a unique pet sparked something inside of him. Not to mention only having his staff to talk to was beginning to make him think he was going mad. While Avalanche couldn’t talk back it could at least give some sign of outward emotion no matter how primitive.

Throughout the day Thad found himself talking to Avalanche as he walked. The animal didn’t respond much but continued to scamper around behind him chasing after anything that moved usually squashing small bugs under its heavy feet. Whenever Avalanche killed one of the bugs he would whine for a short period about his lost toy. The whole thing greatly amused Thad.

A few hours before he would have normally decided to stop Avalanche began making an awful racket. The creature kept running in front of Thad and nudging him toward a small side tunnel. After the third time Thad gave in and followed Avalanche as he merrily ran down the dark corridor turning back every so often giving a loud bark as if demanding Thad to keep up with him.

When Thad finally caught up with Avalanche he found the creature growling at a section of the cave wall. Wondering what Avalanche was going on about Thad shined a bright light on the wall. As soon as the light hit the wall a host of gems reflected his light in a myriad of colors.

“Did you find yourself a snack girl?” Thad asked the humor evident in his voice.

Avalanche bounced around barking at the offending wall that was between it and its treasure. To help out his little friend Thad blasted at the wall getting a frightened yelp from Avalanche as rocks showered around them. As soon as the dust settled Avalanche searched the ground for pieces of gems sucking down any that he found. As soon as the ground was clean he went straight back to the wall and began clawing at a now exposed, rather large gem.

Walking over to the wall Thad placed his hand on the rocks surfaces and began to turn the rock around the large gem to sand. As soon as the gem was free it quickly disappeared into Avalanches maw.

With his hunger sated Avalanche found a comfortable place on the ground and curled up for a nap. Laughing Thad removed a few of the larger gems from the wall in case Avalanche got hungry when there wasn’t such a nice cache of food available.

After setting up his magical walls on the two entrances into the small section of cave Thad sat down next to Avalanche and gently stroked the animals head. It was nice to know that it could find its own food though it did seem as if it had a bit of trouble getting to it. With that thought in mind Thad wondered if that had been what happened when he had met the creature. Had it been trying to get to a cache of food when the wall had collapsed down on it? He wished he could go back and check to see if that had been the case but it didn’t really matter in the end. He just hoped Avalanche didn’t cause the same thing to happen when he was around.

Laying down Thad continued to rub Avalanche’s back as he pulled one of Maria’s letters from the pack. It was one he had read so many times he could recite it without looking at it. It was odd but the words on the page comforted him, as if he could hear Maria’s voice when he read them.

After the third time reading through the letter Avalanche laid her head down across Thad’s knees. As heavy as Avalanche looked he felt heavier, after failing to lift Avalanche’s head from his legs he began to beg his new friend to lift her head. She finally complied giving him a strange look while tilting her head slightly to the side.

Hoping that Avalanche wouldn’t squash while he slept, Thad moved over to the side of the small room and lay down to sleep. His legs still ached a little from the loss of blood but even with the slight discomfort it didn’t take long for Thad to fall into a peaceful slumber.

CHAPTER VI

As the days passed the river began to grow slightly wider and was now more than six feet across. At the same time it had grown more shallow and less and less fish were seen in its depths. If the trend continued Thad would either have to turn back and take one of the many offshoots that had sprouted from the river or continue on and risk running out of food.

Avalanche had found two more places for her food in that time and Thad had enough gems to keep her fed for nearly a fortnight. Avalanche didn’t need to eat every day and usually went three or four days without begging Thad for a treat.

He only wished Avalanche was as skilled at finding his food as it was her own. When he noticed the dwindling food supply he took a few days to stock up on what he could carry. With the cold temperature of the caves he didn’t have to worry about the cooked meat spoiling quickly but even with that it wouldn’t last long.

With the widening of the river the ledge he had to walk on had decreased and more than once he had found himself having to walk across the water. He had learned that Avalanche didn’t swim, as the saying went the poor thing sunk like a rock. She began showing a great distaste of the water. After the first attempt Thad had simply levitated Avalanche over the areas where there wasn’t a place to walk.

Wherever Avalanche was set down she would go to the waters edge and bark for a short time. It was as if she was taunting the water that she had once again kept out of its murky depths. Thad often found himself adding words to the creature’s actions. The first time he caught himself doing it he was slightly worried he had lost his mind but he quickly put the thought out of his mind.

Thinking through his options Thad decided that if his food supply ran dry he would take the first major tunnel that appeared. He didn’t want to back track, he felt that if he did that he was going backwards. It wasn’t as if he knew where he was headed but the feeling was still there.

In the past days he still hadn’t received anything from the princess and it had really begun to bother him. He had started his search with a new vigor stopping early each day so he could devote more time to his search for an exit. Avalanche didn’t seem to enjoy the earlier stopping time and protested by running off searching the nearby area. The first few times she had taken off Thad had worried that she might not return. After the third time she had done it he had grown so accustomed to her little romps he paid little attention to them.

He hadn’t found any promising places yet. All he knew was that the water continued to flow for a good ways. Other than that none of the tunnels leading away seemed to go to the surface. He often found himself getting depressed about the whole situation but Avalanche would begin nudging him until he paid attention to her. Oddly it was as if she knew when he felt bad and tried to make him feel better.

When he came to another expanse where the water covered the ground Thad decided to stop for the night instead of trying to expend the energy to cross. Thad sat up his walls changing one of them so there was a small hole just big enough for Avalanche to crawl though. He had learned that it was much easier to allow her a way in and out than to have to take down the wall when she wanted back in.

He started his search as soon as the noise from Avalanche’s footsteps disappeared into the distance. Slightly curious as to what his four legged friend was up to Thad quickly began looking for her. It didn’t take long to spot Avalanche as the creature shined brightly in his mind.

Avalanche was moving fast down a corridor they had passed. It didn’t take her long to make it miles away from where she had started. Thad didn’t know where she got the boundless energy she had. She had moved farther in half an hour than he could all day. Soon she was so far away it was too much of a strain for him to continue to watch her.

Pulling away from his friend Thad let his mind drift down the river where he would travel tomorrow. He was glad he had decided to stop for the night the space to the next spot where he could walk was almost half a mile away. While that was easy for him normally having to carry Avalanche the whole way would have severely taxed him this late in the day.

With still no sign of an exit in sight Thad set down with his staff. He still wondered what Avalanche was doing but he didn’t have the energy to spend to find out. Instead he spent the time waiting on her, daydreaming about what she could be getting herself into. In one she was searching for her family in another she was hunting down enemies to test herself against.

When she finally returned she looked happy. Though sometimes it was hard to tell what the animal was actually thinking. Thad was sure she was much smarter than he gave her credit for. Her eyes were always inquisitive, and more than once he wished he could understand what she was saying when she was barking. It was probably the reason he filled in her words with his own mind.

Tired and his companion back Thad closed the small hole in the wall. Pulling a small ring from his pack with four gems on it he activated one of his new shield rings. He had made four so far but he knew to keep up he would still need a few more. They had been made out of necessity since Avalanche had the urge to lay on him without warning. While he found it endearing his limbs and back found it exceptionally painful.

The next morning Thad was woken by Avalanche’s loud barking. He stirred slowly still tired. From the feel of his body he had only been asleep for a few hours. After getting her to quiet down he understood why she was making such a commotion. A loud sound was reverberating through the underground. Concentrating hard on the sound he picked out what sounded like a human yell. His hopes up Thad quickly took down his magical walls and ran in the direction of the noise.

A few moments later Thad realized that while he could hear the noise he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Avalanche saved him by running past and continuing on down the tunnel. Thad followed her using his magic to lift himself from the ground so he could keep up with her fast pace.

After what felt like an eternity they finally reached the source of the noise. A short looking human with dark tanned skin fought with a massive metal monstrosity. The human was about four foot six and while obviously well-muscled it didn’t look out of proportion like many of the other smaller humans he had met. The man’s head had been shaved bald and tattoos covered his right arm and left side of his face making Thad think he might be a slave. If that was true he might know of a way out of the caves.

The creature the short man fought was at least nine feet tall and looked to be made of a silvery metal. Its arms and legs were easily the size of Thad’s waist. Its eyes reminded Thad of Avalanche’s except they looked as if they had been made of sapphires instead of rubies. Thad wished he had the time to examine the creature but with the dire situation the man was in he would either have to help now or watch his chance to escape die in front of his own eyes.

The battle looked one sided with the man getting the worse end of the deal. The man was bleeding from many cuts while the monster looked as if it hadn’t been harmed at all. Avalanche was the first one to join the battle trying to grab the metal beast by its leg. It did little damage and Avalanche was soon thrown across the large cavern and into the wall.

Thad joined in as well throwing fireballs at the creatures back. They seemed to do little to no damage so he switched to lightning that seemed to at least get the monsters attention. He soon found himself shaking as the hulking monstrosity turned toward him and began making its slow advance on his position. Thad hastily tried to use his paralyzing ring on the beast but all it accomplished was getting the thing to stop for the briefest of moments.

With his magic doing no damage, Thad pulled his magical dagger from his side and activated it so it grew into a full length sword. If his magically enchanted sword didn’t damage the creature he would have little choice but to run for his life. Running through his options he decided if he ran he would have to take the other man with him even if he had to do so by force. He wasn’t about to lose his only link with the surface no matter the cost.

Before he had a chance to make a strike the small man jumped at the monster from the side swinging a massive axe at the creature landing a hearty blow on the creature’s right leg. The weapon dug into the creature’s leg carving out a small chunk that clanked loudly on the ground. The monster let out a loud roar and backhanded the small man knocking him half way across the cavern. It didn’t stop there as it rushed the downed man and began stomping on him wildly.

Thad feared for a moment the man was dead and in haste let loose such a massive lightning bolt it left him light headed. The attack had the desired effect knocking the monster off the man and throwing it a few feet backwards.

The creature gave him a look filled with hate. Avalanche still continued to rush the creature but its attacks didn’t even bother the monster enough for a response. Thad shaking slightly swallowed loudly and made his own charge.

Thad used his speed to his advantage darting around the slow-moving metal creature. Each attack landed but he only achieved in cutting small nicks in the monster’s natural armor. Seeing his attack doing little damage Thad lent some of his own magical force to the sword. His new method was met with marginal success as his sword began to bite deeper.

The monster was getting more aggravated with each blow. It increased the speed of its movements but was still having trouble keeping up with Thad’s frantic pace. While the monster seemed to have boundless energy Thad was tiring fast.

The monster finally was able to catch up with Thad’s slowing movements and caught Thad with a vicious strike to his side. Thad was knocked in to the air and landed hard on his back. Before he could climb to his feet the monster was on him. Thad put up his sword to block the impending overhead attack. When the monsters arms met with his sword the blade snapped off causing an explosion from the broken link tossing both Thad and the monster across the cavern.

His head spinning Thad looked down at his right hand, his vision slightly off as if his left eye was closed. He let out a sigh of relief to see that it was still attached to his arm along with all his fingers. His left army hurt badly and Thad knew if it wasn’t broken it was still in bad shape. He couldn’t see any sign of bone sticking from the skin so he hoped it was just badly bruised or dislocated.

When he was thrown his pack had been slung off his back and now the contents within had been tossed about the cavern. His food, gems, metal, and most importantly his sending box now lay scattered about.

Getting unsteadily to his feet Thad pulled the only weapon he had left from its scabbard. The weapon felt off in his left hand but he was left with little choice. He wasn’t sure what good the blade would do but it was better than trying to block the creature’s blows with his bare hand.

The sword had once belonged to a thug in the capital who had set upon him along with a gang of others in an attempt to rob him. The sword wasn’t magicalyl strengthened or enchanted to have a keen blade like his other, though it wasn’t from a lack of trying on his part. The sword refused to allow any magic to affect it. In fact it cut through magic the same way a normal sword cut through flesh.

With his sword in hand Thad backed up bracing himself against the cave wall and looked around for his enemy. It didn’t take him long to find the hulking monstrosity. It was still on the ground getting slowly to its feet. Its right arm was gone from the elbow down. The sight that the beast could be injured brought new hope to Thad. Now if only he had another ten magical swords to break upon the thing. What he wouldn’t do for one of the glass spheres at the moment.

As soon as the metal creature got to its feet it began to lumber straight toward Thad unmindful of the rock dog that nipped at its heels. Thad watched in horror as the monster’s foot came down on the sending box that had the unfortunate luck to be in the beast’s path.

Anger flared through Thad’s body. The beast had taken away his one link to the outside world. With a feral scream Thad launched himself at the monster. The sword bit deep scoring a thick cut on the monster’s outstretched arm.

The creature let out a massive howl and backed a step away from Thad. At the same time Thad looked down at the sword as if it had betrayed him. He didn’t understand why it had succeeded where his own had failed miserably. As he thought about it something occurred to him. Quickly while the monster was giving him a chance Thad looked over the creature with his magical sight. Thad had only held his magical sight for a moment but he was sure that the creature was much like Avalanche. Its base construction was magical in origin.

Knowing he now had an effective weapon Thad attacked the monster with new vigor. Giving every last ounce of energy stored in his body to the attack. The monster acted confused and continued to back away as Thad hacked at it with abandon, each swing cutting deeper and deeper into the monsters metal flesh.

In the few moments Thad had seen the monster through his magical sight he had noticed the glowing center that worked as its core. Unlike a human its “heart” was in its stomach right below where the ribcage would have been.

With one last lunge, Thad shoved the sword into the beast’s abdomen with all his strength. As the creature fell back the sword was ripped from Thad’s hands causing him to fall hard to the ground. He landed hard on his right arm sending tendrils of pain shooting through his body.

Thad laid on the ground breathing hard exhausted. With what little strength remained in his body Thad forced himself to a sitting position. If he was going to die he wasn’t going to do it without fighting to his last breath. The ending blow never came as the monster lay unmoving a few feet away.

Avalanche was at his side nudging him worriedly with her nose. “I’m ok girl.” Thad said absentmindedly running his hand down her back.

With Avalanches help Thad got to his feet. After calling his staff back to his waiting hand Thad made his way over to the creature. Looking down into its featureless face Thad let out a stressed laugh. Its eyes had lost the bright glow that they had held in life. He didn’t have the energy to use his magic to make sure the creature was dead so he decided it was time to make his escape.

Thad found the small man and was happy to find that he still lived. His breathing was light and strained but he was alive. Thad wished he had the energy to heal the man but he was sorely lacking at the moment. Not knowing how much longer he could hold on Thad grabbed the man’s arm and began pulling him toward the nearest wall. Seeing what he was doing Avalanche joined in grabbing ahold of the man’s armor right at the shoulder and yanking with its legs helping him pull the man forward.

With his friend’s help it didn’t take long to get the man to the wall. After putting up the first two magical walls Thad’s eyes noticed the man’s weapon laying a few feet away. With both his weapons lost to him Thad quickly rushed over to it and tried to pick it up. The axe was much heavier than it had looked, forcing Thad to drag it awkwardly behind him.

Once he had the axe placed against the wall Thad put the last section of wall up. He didn’t know if his walls would hold if the large monster was still alive but it would at least give him time to ready a defense.

Thad pulled the lizard skins he had been using for a pillow and carefully placed it under the smaller man’s head. Now that they were in close quarters filled with light the man looked slightly odd but in his exhausted state Thad couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

With his charge as comfortable as he could make him Thad sat out his own bed roll. Using his pack as a pillow Thad got out his personal shield and placed it on him. He did it none too soon as Avalanche plodded over to where he lay and laid down with her head across his abdomen. The last sight he had before drifting off to sleep was her piercing ruby eyes staring at him worriedly.

CHAPTER VII

Thad woke the next morning his body racked with pain. With the adrenaline gone the pain from his eye and arm had come back in full force. After thoroughly checking his right arm he was sure it wasn’t broken. It was stiff and sore but he could still move it. He was sure it wasn’t broken just bruised badly with large purple welts visible even in the dim magical light.

Lifting his hand to see if he could get his left eye open Thad froze in horror at what he found. Even after his eye was open he still couldn’t see out of it. Thad ran over to the dwarf’s axe and used its blade as a makeshift mirror. It looks as if his eye had simply been ripped out it didn’t look empty as muscles still crisscrossed behind where his eye had been The missing eye explained the massive headache he was having.

First his foot now his eye, what would be next? At the rate he was going by the time he made it back to Farlan all he would have left would be his ear and a tooth or two. Thad wanted to moan about the loss of his eye but other concerns took priority. The man who he had rescued the night before was still breathing but it looked as if every breath pained him greatly.

Using his magical sight Thad examined the man. The first thing he noticed was that his body makeup was slightly different than he had encountered before. The bone of the man’s skeleton was much thicker and the muscles much closer together as if someone had tried to force twice the normal number into the same area. The man’s skin was also very thick compared to what he was used to, much more like that of one of the subterranean lizards.

Thad tried not to get sidetracked by the man’s unique body and began looking for what was ailing the man. The man was riddled with injuries but most of them were minor. The major ones were the swelling in his head and throat. Thad had no idea where to begin in reducing the swelling in the man’s head but the throat was something he could work on.

There were countless small bones in the throat and it looked like many of them had been broken in his fight with the metal monstrosity. Thad focused intently repairing each small bone one at a time. By the time he was done with the small bones his forehead was covered with sweat. Even though he had just woken up he knew he needed a break but was afraid to stop before he was sure he had done everything he could for the man.

Focusing again Thad went back to work on the man’s throat. A lot of the small tendons had been cut and torn when the bones had been broken causing most of the swelling. Unlike the bones they were much easier to fix as all he had to do was encourage the body to speed up its own work. He thought about doing the same thing with the man’s head but he was afraid of what the consequence of such an action.

With everything done for the man that was possible Thad sat back breathing hard. He had been up for less than a few hours and he was already exhausted. He knew he needed to eat and drink some fluids and if possible get some water down his unconscious charge’s throat as well.

Forcing himself, Thad searched through his pack until he found some of the cooked meat as well as his full canteen of water. Eating fast Thad took a few small sips from his canteen saving the bulk of the water for his friend. Once he was done seeing to his own needs Thad lifted the smaller man’s head and started pouring the water down his throat slowly. Thad was still astonished that the man was so heavy given his frame.

With the man’s head cradled in his lap a sudden thought occurred to him. He might not be a man at all but a Dwarf. From the stories he had heard dwarfs were supposed to have long beards and fiery hair. Though lacking the facial hair everything else seemed to fit with the exception that the stories normally painted the dwarves with humorously disproportioned limbs.

He wouldn’t know for sure until his friend awoke but he was sure given everything he was right. His mind full of thoughts Thad sat back against the wall and let his eyes close. As he drifted off to sleep he could hear Avalanche whining to be let out of the cramped room, but he didn’t have the energy left to let her out.

When he woke Thad checked on his guest and found that his breathing was much better and the swelling in his head had gone down slightly. Relieved Thad went to his pack to retrieve the last of the water. While he was trying to get to his gear Avalanche was insistently nudging him and whining. To appease her he opened a small hole in the nearest wall and let her scamper out. With her gone Thad quickly poured the last of his water down the unconscious dwarf’s throat.

Thad knew that his friend would also need food but everything he had was already cooked and posed the risk of choking him. He needed fresh meat and water to make a broth, and that meant leaving the room unguarded. He was hesitant at first but he was left with little choice. Instead of taking down the wall he simply crawled out the same hole he had made for Avalanche, closing it behind him.

As soon as he was standing Thad could see the dead form of the metal monster not far away. Unable to help himself Thad moved for a closer look. His was happy to see his sword though it was buried almost to the hilt in the creature’s abdomen. Climbing atop the creature Thad tried to pull his sword free but the metal held it tight.

Thad didn’t understand why his sword refused to move. When he had fought the creature the sword has easily cut though the metal. Concentrating Thad looked over the creature using his magical sight and found that there was no magic left in the beast.

After thinking for a bit Thad began to understand what had happened. The creature had been moving thanks to the magic. Otherwise there would be no way for metal to be that flexible. The sword had merely taken advantage of the system, forcing the metal to part. Now that the creature was dead and no more magic flowed through its body the sword was useless.

Thad didn’t want to leave his only weapon behind so he tried the only thing he could think of. Placing his hands on the creature’s chest Thad focused his magic and forced the metal to part. It was much easier to do than he had figured and within moments he was able to pull his weapon free.

Wanting to study the metal the creature was made of more closely Thad cut a small section free from it about the size of his hand. Thad was surprised that the metal was far lighter than anything that he had encountered before. Knowing Avalanche’s love of gems Thad quickly removed the creature’s eyes. The last thing he wanted was to get the urge to study them later only to find his pet had eaten them for a late night snack. Crouched down Thad’s knee hit something, looking down he saw the remains of his sending box. Tears began to leak from his one good eye. He had lost his only connection with the surface. The only thing that had kept him going was now gone. Trying to hold the darkness that threated to consume him Thad quickly went back to the task at hand.

With his prizes safely tucked away Thad headed back toward the underground river to restock his supplies. It took him much longer to reach the river than he had expected. In his fevered rush the day before he must have moved farther than he had thought.

Filling the canteens was the easy part of the expedition. There was only one fish to be seen in the murky depths of the water and it was far too small to make a decent meal for him let alone a broth for his unconscious friend. After walking the river for a little over what he perceived to be an hour he was able to catch enough fish to sate his needs.

The walk back seemed to take longer than it should have. Thad figured it was due to his overly anxious need to be there when his new friend woke. It was an exciting prospect that his guest might be a dwarf. If so not only might he know of a way out the sheer idea of meeting a being that was thought of as being mythological in nature was astounding.

“Idiot!” Thad said to himself. If dwarfs were real, what else had history paved over? There were many races described in stories and myth. The history of the lost empire ran through his mind. He had heard that the Fae Wars had been so named because it had been a war on all things magical. What if that meant more than just mages? Could it have also been an attack on the magical creatures of Kern? If that was true then the name “Fae War” made much more sense. His only hope of discovering the truth would be if his new friend had any insight into history dating back thousands of years. Though if the stories were true than dwarves were known to live far longer than a human.

Thad found his charge still sleeping soundly when he returned. He wasn’t sure if he was sad or happy at the notion but he hoped he would wake soon. Thad knew little about head injuries but what he did know was distressing. He had once seen a kid take a sharp blow to the head during weapons practice at the academy. While the boy had lived he had never been the same after.

With his limited cooking skills Thad was able to make an edible fish soup. He had added the last of the mushrooms in his pack hoping the extra nutrients would help. It was a battle all its own to get the thick liquid down the dwarf’s throat with a large portion of the food ending up on Thad.

Once the dwarf was fed Thad sat back and stared at the wall wondering what his friends were up to. He had held hopes that he would hear news that Eloen was ok, but now he was only left to wonder what had become of her. He was also worried that the princess had been silent for so long. Now with no way to commutate with her he could only hope that she was ok.

With little to do except watch his charge Thad decided to work on the problem of his missing eye in hopes to stave away the depression that threated to consume him. He could still see but more than once he had stumbled thinking things were farther than they were. Day to day it would simply be annoying but during a fight such a miscalculation could cost him his life or if he was wielding strong magic, someone else’s.

He had experimented with making an enchanted eye before though its use was to mimic his magical sight. It had worked fairly well but he had run into the problem that it needed precise instructions to function and once set they could not be altered.

After cutting a few small gems from one of the larger ones he had saved for Avalanche’s meal Thad coated them with a small layer of iron. Even with the gems ready for enchanting Thad had to create a spell to place on them.

He had never had a reason to make a spell to see for him before. First he needed to know how the eyes worked. He couldn’t check his own eyes. He had tried before. Anytime he tried to check himself with his magical sight it had always looked like a barren spot. That was probably the reason the magical book he had found had strongly warned against using magic to alter or enhance one’s own body. If he had been born an internal magical user he could simply regrow his leg and eye. Then again he wouldn’t be able to enchant or use most of the other magic’s he had grown accustomed to.

Luckily he had another creature around to study. Focusing Thad studied how the dwarf’s eyes were working. Even in his sleep they were moving back and forth frantically. There wasn’t a large amount of activity going on with the dwarf’s eyes but Thad was sure with the limited amount of information he could make a magical replica.

Making a magical eye was far more difficult than anything he had tried before due to its complexity. The first try worked in a way, though instead of showing things as he saw them everything was shown by variances of heat. It was a unique way to see things. Even the walls heat varied slightly from one section to another. It must be how the dwarf and other creatures of the subterranean world could see without the use of light. Though it wasn’t what he was looking for Thad made a mental note of the nightsight spell, in case he wanted to use it in the future.

It took long hours of slightly tweaking the spell before he was able get it to the desired effect. He could see even with his eyes closed. It was odd as he made his magical eye float down the barren corridors. The more he played with the spell the more uses he could find for it. As an enchantment it would be greatly limited having to have a fixed point, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it in spell form whenever he wanted to know what was happening in a perceived blind spot.

With the spell worked out all he had to do was begin the enchanting. It turned out to be much harder than he had thought. The first time he hadn’t linked it to himself and while he could tell the enchantment was working it didn’t let him see through it. He had linked things to himself before and knew the dangers. If the gem or body was damaged it could cause massive damage to him. His first rune necklace had been taken from him and luckily nothing had happened to it before he had been able to break the link.

After giving it a good deal of thought Thad decided that it was well worth the benefit. Continuing on Thad started in on his second attempt, this time while he had linked it to himself he hadn’t set a focal point and everything came in skewed and blurry. His third attempt was a success as he set the focal point on the center of the exposed portion of the gem. Now any direction the gem was moved he could see as if it were his natural eye.

Thad knew he couldn’t simply hold the eye all the time and while sticking it in his empty eye socket would solve that problem it didn’t solve the problem on how to make it move in coordination with his other eye.

After three more attempts Thad had everything ready. It took a total of six gems. The main one for sight though extremely complicated it didn’t take a large amount of magic to use and as long as he shut it down when he slept it should easily be able to keep up without having to have multiple copies. Four of the others were linked to his other eye each one dedicated to a specific direction. The last one was an extra that allowed his eye to switch from the normal vision to nightsight. It wasn’t absolutely needed but Thad figured it might come in handy.

All that was left was to make one of the appropriate size. Thad had purposely used small gems for his tests and while it worked there was no way it could hold up to extended use. The only problem was that he was running low on iron. While it didn’t take a large amount Thad wanted to make sure the magical eye was protected.

While searching through his pack Thad found the bar of metal he had taken from the metal monster earlier in the day. It was light, which was a bonus but he wasn’t sure if it was strong enough to hold up to repeated punishment. It wasn’t as if Thad planned to get hit in the face over and over but the last thing he wanted was for his head to explode from a lucky punch.

Thad didn’t want to use his sword against the metal. While it was great against magical items it was still just a simple sword against anything else and he didn’t want to risk breaking it. Spotting the dwarf’s axe against the far wall Thad had an idea. Placing the metal ingot on the ground Thad lifted the axe onto his shoulder ready to strike. Thad was still surprised at the sheer weight of the weapon. Using all his strength Thad swung the massive beast and was rewarded when a ringing noise filled the small enclosed room.

The axe had cut into the ingot cutting a deep gash about of third of the way through the metal. It wasn’t perfect but given the weapon he was using Thad wasn’t sure any other metal would have fared half as well. With the metal decided he just needed to cut the gem to use as the center core. The ones he had with him while good for basic enchantments didn’t have the purity he was looking for.

Not wanting to waste countless hours searching the nearby tunnels with his magical sight looking for gems of high purity and magical containment Thad pulled one of the gems that he had pulled from the monster out. Unlike his first assumption the gems were not sapphires. While they appeared to work like gems to his mage sight they were far more efficient than anything he had encountered before. Even diamonds that his book had exclaimed as being the best gems to use paled in comparison to the bright blue stone he held in his hand.

The gem was twice the size that he needed so he was sure that he could use it for all six gems with some left over. With its strength Thad was sure that even if he left it on it could stay charged without trouble. It only took a few hours to get the gem cut and covered in two layers of metal. The first layer had the enchantment on it and a second thicker layer was placed over it to help protect it. Thad only left a small area of the gem exposed only slightly larger than the iris of his natural eye.

When he was finished Thad was more than a little apprehensive of putting the gem in his eye socket. It burned a little as it slid into place. Once inside it felt weird as the cold metal moved around with his natural eye. Though it felt odd it worked to perfection allowing him to see as well as when he had had both of his eyes.

With his sight restored Thad decided to take a walk around the outside cavern. After a couple turns around the area Thad switched to nightsight and learned that he had to close his other eye or suffer a massive headache from the mixed sight.

Happy with his test run Thad decided to make one more stop before heading back to check on his unconscious friend. It only took Thad a few hours to make more than enough ingots than he could fit into his pack. Though they weighed little there were too many for him to carry alone so Thad used his staff to float them back to his sanctuary.

CHAPTER VIII

It was three days before the dwarf finally opened his eyes for the first time. During that time Thad had experimented with the metal trying to learn everything he could from it. He had long since cut up the entirety of the monster and had him stacked in ingot form against the wall. He had also made new magical walls using the metal and pieces of the sapphire like gem. They could be put up and taken down numerous times in one day without having to worry about them running low on magical energy.

The first time the dwarf opened his eyes Thad ran to him hopeful, but it was short lived as he quickly fell back to sleep. Checking the man’s condition he noticed that the swelling was almost gone. If his waking even if for a short period of time was any hint soon he would be able to converse with his new friend.

It was none too soon either. Fresh fish was getting harder and harder to find. On his last trip to the underground river he had had to walk for several miles before he had been able to find a single fish. He had more than enough water to last having made three large containers out of some of the metal he had salvaged.

Later that day the dwarf stirred again this time waking enough to sit up. The dwarf looked like he was still in a good amount of pain. As soon as he had begun to move Thad was at his side handing him a cup of water. The dwarf took the offered water and gulped it down greedily with small amounts spilling from the side of his mouth.

“Are you feeling better?” Thad asked his voice laced with concern.

The dwarf opened his mouth as if to speak but only a raspy noise issued from his mouth. The dwarf looked stunned and reached up and felt his throat and tried to speak again. It was easy for Thad to tell the dwarf was none too happy with the situation and looked at him with contempt.

“I didn’t do it. After I killed that monstrosity I put up some protective walls and have been nursing you for days.” Thad said putting his hands out in a placating gesture.

The dwarf looked him over carefully. It was slightly unnerving to be under such scrutiny. Thad held still keeping his hands far away from the hilt of his sword not wanting to enrage the dwarf. When his eyes fell on his axe the dwarf tried to jump up from his mat and ran into the wall a few paces away.

Thad tried to help the dwarf to his feet but he was quickly and easily pushed away. Without his shield on Thad felt the full force of the dwarf’s mighty arms and was sure he would have a good sized bruise in the morning.

The dwarf got to his feet again this time making slower and more confident steps. When he reached his weapon he picked it up and held it like a lost lover. Thad had never seen anyone hold their weapon with such tenderness. For a brief moment Thad worried that the blow to the head had addled the dwarf more than a little.

The dwarf tried to speak once again but nothing came out. Obviously frustrated the dwarf started pantomiming with his hands. The dwarf raised his right hand far above his head and then began acting like he was fighting. At first Thad didn’t know what he was doing but after a few moments Thad got the jest of what the dwarf was trying to get at.

“I used my sword destroy its core.” At Thad’s words the dwarf merely looked confused. After a few moments he put both his hands up and shrugged his shoulders. Great Thad thought to himself not only couldn’t the dwarf speak even if he could it didn’t seem like they spoke the same language.

Thad pulled his sword out slowly and pointed to it with his off hand. The dwarf held out his hand and Thad quickly obliged and handed the weapon over. The dwarf studied the sword for a few moments until his face contorted into anger.

Thad soon found the blade of his own sword dangerously close to his throat. Thad wasn’t sure what the dwarf was mad at but he quickly activated his shield ring. It was one thing to spend days nursing the guy back to health. It was another to let the dwarf remove his head from his shoulders over a misunderstanding.

Thad wasn’t sure what to do to get the dwarf to calm down but he knew he had to get the sword back. Though he had raised his shield he doubted the sword would pay anymore heed to it than it had the last time he had faced it. He could call for his staff but he was afraid that the sword would cut through it as easily as it had the metal monster, than he would be in a real bind. Instead he simply tried to talk calmly hoping the dwarf would get the idea that he wasn’t a threat to him.

After a few tense moments Avalanche decided it was her time to make an entrance. Thad never heard her enter the small room and from the look on the dwarfs face when she latched her razor sharp teeth onto the arm holding his sword neither had the dwarf. As soon as Avalanche clamped down the dwarf dropped the sword and reached for his axe. Thad not wasting any time dove for the sword while blasting the dwarf with a small ball of fire at the same time.

Scooping up the sword with his right hand Thad turned on the dwarf just in time to see the dwarf bounce Avalanche off one of the metal walls. Thad could see blood pooling on the dwarfs arms though he was surprised Avalanche had not done more damage.

Thad could see Avalanche lean back preparing to launch itself at the stout dwarf again. Not wanting the fight to escalate out of control Thad moved in-between Avalanche and the dwarf hunching down slightly patting his friend on the head. The moment was not lost on the dwarf who visibly relaxed his grip on his axe.

Setting the massive weapon down in front of him the dwarf made a waggling motion with his fingers. When Thad didn’t get his meaning he repeated the movement than pointed at the small spot on his chest where the cloth had been slightly singed from his fireball.

Hoping he was right Thad formed a small fireball in his hand and then let it quickly fade away. The dwarf sat down heavily on the ground with a loud humph. Over the next few hours the two talked by waving their arms and making weird gestures. Thad was sure that if anyone had seen the exchange they would have been doubled over laughing.

The dwarf was currently trying to ask something about him though Thad was having a hard time making out what he was meaning. He was using his fingers and making them walk like a person then he would point at the wall. The dwarf was quickly getting frustrated with Thad’s lack of understanding and kept running his hands over his bald scalp that was now covered in short light-colored stubble. Finally he pointed at Thad, then at the ground the spread his hands indicating the area surrounding them.

Laughing to himself Thad finally understood what the dwarf was trying to get at. The only problem was Thad had no idea how to answer the question only using his hands. Then he began laughing again. Why was he using his hands in the first place? He had other means available to him. With a little focus Thad made a miniature person appear on the ground surrounded by forest. Soon other little men began to chase the first until he ran into a cave. The little men began to fight until the first one started casting small balls of fire at the cave walls and the cave began to collapse around him.

The dwarf threw his head back and a harsh crackling noise issued forth. Thad soon joined in the dwarf’s merriment. Looking back it was more than a little funny. There had to be hundreds of ways to deal with the situation back then other than sealing himself away from the enemy. He had just been so worked up and frantic he hadn’t been thinking ahead.

After a few moments the dwarf took an interest in the metal ingots that lined the wall. Using an illusion Thad explained how he had broken down the metal monster they had fought into small bars so that he could move them easier.

The dwarf picked up one of the ingots and studied it intently for a long period of time. Thad could see the dwarf’s eyes brighten as he looked over the stack of metal that towered before him. As if something shot through his mind the dwarf jumped from his seat and headed for the wall. When he noticed that there was no door he turned back to Thad and placed his hands on his hips in an exaggerated movement.

Laughing Thad walked over to the wall and placed his hand on it. Within seconds the metal shrunk back into a small ball that he placed carefully back in his pack. The dwarf slapped him hard on the back giving him a broad grin then darted toward one of the side tunnels. Not sure what was going on Thad followed the dwarf surprised how fast he could move despite his short legs.

The dwarf led him a short way down one of the tunnels until he stopped abruptly. The dwarf moved a small boulder away from the wall and pulled a large pack about twice the size of his own from a small cubby hole in the wall. With his pack in hand the dwarf turned around almost bumping into Thad and rushed back toward their little sanctuary.

Thad followed quick behind the bustling dwarf. As soon as the dwarf reached the small room he started loading his pack down with the metal ingots. While the pack was a good size it would still have taken thirty or more of them to come close to being able to carry what Thad had stacked against the wall. It took the dwarf a few moments of trying to find ways to move around his payload before he figured it wasn’t going to be possible to take all of it at one time.

The dwarf stood and looked down at the pack as if it had betrayed him then to Thad who lay on the ground a few feet away laughing. The dwarf didn’t look very pleased with his amusement. Thad stopped laughing and wiped the moisture from under his eye. The dwarf gave him a hard look then pointed from the bag then to the metal ingots then to him. It was obvious the dwarf wanted him to figure a way to get all the metal ingots into one pack.

It wasn’t really a hard problem to address. He had done the same thing with Eloen’s pack. All he had to do was to make a sub-dimensional area and link it to the pack. So that when opened it would allow a large portion of things to be stored and when closed would only weigh a small fraction of the weight. He had thought about doing the same thing with his pack but then it would have been hard to sort through the things held within. If he could make the interior of the pack just big enough for the ingots it wouldn’t be so bad. All the dwarf would have to do when he reached where he wanted to deposit the metal was to turn the pack upside down and empty out its contents.

Thad first made a rough measurement of the large stack of ingots trying to form a mental picture of the size needed to house them all within the pack. The whole time he worked the dwarf continued to pace behind him looking over his shoulder whenever he stopped moving for too long. Thad could sort of understand why the metal was so important to the dwarf. It was strong and light and if the stories were true the dwarfs were celebrated blacksmiths.

Once he had the basic measurements down Thad went straight to work. Using a small portion of the ultra-light metal Thad laced the inside of the bag. Once Thad was finished he placed three grape-sized gems in the pack. They were to help hold the temporal space to the inside of the pack. Thad wasn’t sure what would happen if the link was lost. It was a fifty-fifty chance. Everything could be dumped all at once into the current space, or the temporal space could simply close and everything would be lost to them forever.

Before finishing the dwarf’s pack Thad stuffed three of the ingots into his own. Thad had worried that the dwarf wouldn’t take the loss of any of the metal but he seemed to pay it little mind as they disappeared into Thad’s pack.

As soon as Thad was finished with the pack the dwarf wasted no time in loading his haul. It didn’t take long for the metal to disappear into the bag. Thad had been worried he had made the space within the bag too small but as the last ingot went in Thad still couldn’t see the top of the stack.

After he was done the dwarf turned to him and gave him one of his trademark broad grins. Thad made sure to keep his back away as it was still stinging from the one he had received earlier.

“You know I’m going have to call you something other than dwarf.” Thad said more to himself than the dwarf sitting across from him. Looking the dwarf over many names came to mind but most of them were dismissed out of hand. “Crusher,” Thad shouted after a few minutes of chewing on his nails much to the dwarf’s amusement.

Thad pointed to himself, “Thad.” The dwarf seeming to understand pointed at him and smiled. Then Thad pointed toward the dwarf and said, “Crusher.” The dwarf looked at him for a few moments then simply shrugged his shoulders. “Ok, Crusher it is.”

As they ate Avalanche reappeared giving the dwarf plenty of room as she moved over sitting next to Thad. Absentmindedly Thad rubbed his hands over the top of Avalanches head. Crusher looked at Avalanche with a wry grin and pointed at her.

Picking up the thought Thad made an illusion playing out their first meeting. Crusher laughed at how Avalanche had been trapped then laughed harder when Thad showed how Avalanche had followed him relentlessly until he had given up trying to get rid of her.

At first Thad had feared that Crusher and Avalanche wouldn’t get along well especially after how they had first met. To his surprise Crusher seemed to take a great interest in Avalanche going so far as offering her a fair sized garnet that he dug from one of the pockets in his pack. Avalanche wasn’t as happy to make friends but after a nudge from Thad made her way over and sniffed at the gem before swallowing it whole. As was her normal routine she hopped around for a bit barreling into the dwarf knocking him over.

Unlike Thad, who had to rely on his shield whenever Avalanche was in a playful mood Crusher seemed to enjoy the rough play. Thad watched laughing as the two rolled around on the ground wrestling. When they finished Crusher was breathing hard and from what Thad could tell he was laughing.

That night when Thad lay down to sleep Crusher refused Thad’s offered lizard skin, instead opting to use a nearby rock for a pillow. It didn’t look very comfortable to Thad but he figured if the dwarf wanted to punish himself who was he to argue. Avalanche seemed torn between who to sleep next to but finally solved her dilemma by picking a spot near both of them.

CHAPTER IX

The next day when Thad woke he already found Crusher and Avalanche gone. He was slightly worried that Crusher had left while he slept, with Avalanche following quickly behind. Thinking about it wouldn’t get him anywhere, so Thad decided he should take care of his daily chores.

Thad snagged one of the larger pieces of cooked fish from his pack then grabbing his staff and headed in the direction of the river. The walk had almost become second nature to him. There were only four places in which he had to turn and he could almost tell you how many steps it took to get to each one. Feeling confident Thad turned off his light ring and switched his eye into nightsight.

It took him some time after switching over to get his bearings. He had only used nightsight during his first test run for the eyes and had been eager to use it again. It was weird to see the world he had believed to be nothing but darkness spread out into a myriad of colors. It was mostly different shades of red though there were also blues, purples, and oranges.

During his test run he ran into the walls a few times but he didn’t let it frustrate him. He expected to encounter a little trouble during his first time using the new sight. After the third turn he learned to watch for discreet changes in the heat pattern to show where the tunnel changed direction.

When Thad finally reached the river he was astounded at the change. The water was much warmer than the surrounding area. He couldn’t see any fish in the direct area so he headed upstream. Luckily he didn’t have to walk far before he saw the bright red glow of a fish darting around in the light orange water. The only real problem Thad was having with his vision was the trouble with depth. He wasn’t sure if it was due to only having one eye like it did in the normal spectrum or because of the intricacies of nightsight.

When Thad returned to his refuge he was welcomed back by both Crusher and Avalanche. When he saw the large creature that Crusher was cooking over a small fire Thad felt self-conscious about the small amount of fish he had brought back.

When Thad sat down Crusher turned away from the task of cooking the meat and pointed at him then made a writing motion with his finger. It wasn’t hard for Thad to understand what the dwarf was getting at. After digging in his pack Thad pulled out the last two sheets of parchment in his pack along with a piece of coal he had been using to write with.

Crusher took the parchment and quickly began to scribble on it. Thad tried to see what the dwarf was doing but whenever he got close Crusher would move away and shooed him off with a wave of his hand. Getting the point Thad went to the fire and tended the cooking meat.

Whatever Crusher had brought to eat was new to Thad. It was smaller than one of the lizards but it was much bulkier in diameter. It didn’t look very appetizing but with the scarcity of food in the subterranean networks Thad couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

As soon as the meat was done Crusher stuffed away the pages he was working on and sat down to eat with Thad. Not wanting to leave Avalanche out Thad reached down and pulled a fist sized gem from his pack and tossed it to her. The meat wasn’t too bad though it had a bitter aftertaste that lingered on his tongue. He tried to wash it down with water but gave up after his third glass.

Thad was ready to continue on and find his way out though it looked like his new friend wanted to stay for a bit longer. It was more than a little annoying that after days of waiting for the dwarf to wake, he was still stuck without any clear idea of a way out. The whole situation was bordering on maddening.

As soon as he was finished eating Crusher headed off with Avalanche fast on his heels leaving Thad alone. With nothing planned, Thad spent the first few moments in utter boredom throwing pebbles at the far wall. When he ran out of pebbles to throw he began searching through his pack for anything to keep himself occupied. When he came across his magical tome he almost laughed. He had nearly forgotten about the book. It was filled with numerous books that could be switched by touching the name of the book that one wanted to read.

Before leaving the capital Thad had filled it with books of all kinds and many of them had to deal with heat. It had been a pet project of his to figure out a way to heat a large area in winter. There were also a large number of history books. That was his particular passion. Ever since he had found the magic book in the ruins he had been searching for any information that might help him learn of the mages from the past. Now he also wanted to search for any hint that the Fae Races had once lived alongside his own.

It had been so long since he had last opened the book Thad couldn’t remember which ones he had already read. With little motivation to do much else Thad opened it to the first book and began reading. Like the others he had found it glossed over the time before and during the Fae War, only mentioning it vaguely.

In the fifth book he finally found something with a bit more to it than a simple paragraph saying the war had been fought. It went into great detail about the order of knights that the Emperor had created. Thad had read about the knights before but this was the first time he had seen them given a name. The Brotherhood of the Fox had been formed with the express purpose to hunt down anything of magical origin.

Like most of the other books he had found it didn’t go into great detail about the time before the war only stating that the mages had grown too strong and arrogant forcing the emperor to declare them enemies. The knights had been raised and trained from birth to despise all things magical. They were the perfect force with weapons and armor impervious to magical attack.

Thad had more than a small hunch his own sword had once belonged to one of the Brotherhood. The one that that really seemed to bother him was that the history of the Brotherhood didn’t end with the war. The book in front of him detailed their activities for more than three hundred years afterward. They had stayed hidden branching out and increasing their numbers and kept watch throughout history preaching that magic was born from the use of powers granted from the abyss.

There were even letters from members of the Brotherhood in the later chapters detailing some of their activities. Thad was sure the book itself couldn’t have been written from one of its members as it painted them as more monster than human by their activities. He wasn’t sure how the person had gained such knowledge of the supposed secretive group but he had to admit it was interesting. As he neared the end of the book one passage caught his attention, and refused to let it go. He read the passage then caught himself reading it again and again.

It has been over two hundred years after the fall of the empire and still we find new mages being born every year. We have tried to trace back the origin of their power to find if it was passed down in families but due to our own success in wiping out all written knowledge of the mages we have found no success on this end.

It is a bloody job we do, and every year we lose more support from the people. In some regions we have to hide the fox emblem on our shields and swords. The new rulers that have risen in these lands have taken different stances. Some have welcomed us with open arms while others have branded us as nothing more than murderers. There is still plenty of land that is free for the taking and it is the higher command’s orders that we create our own country in which to work from.

It has also been decided that we shall keep our true identity a secret and try to bury the truth of our existence with that of the mages, so we can work unseen. I do not agree with their choices but I am bound by my oath to follow them.

I only hope that one day we will once again remove our cloaks and reveal to the world that we are the saviors. We are the ones to cut away the rot of this world. The souls who are tainted with the magic granted from the unholy abyss and all creatures it has spawned.

After the fifth time reading though the passage Thad set down the book. The Brotherhood of the Fox had survived for at least three hundred years after the fall of the empire. Could it be possible that they still lived and worked killing any who showed signs of magic? If that was the case it made sense why no one had taken up the reins of the mages of the past. From everything he knew magical talent didn’t manifest until after the onset of adulthood.

Thinking back to Crusher’s reaction to his sword, made him wonder if the dwarf knew anything of the Brotherhood. It would be impossible to have a detailed discussion with the dwarf but it stood to reason where there was one there would be more. Shaking the thoughts from his mind Thad went back to reading. No reason to get his hopes up right now all he should really concern himself with was making it back to the surface.

After what he believed to be a couple of hours Thad grew tired of reading. He tried to keep himself busy by planning a new enchantment but nothing useful came to mind. “What should I do?” Thad asked his staff. He didn’t know what answer he expected as his staff was more prone to mocking him than giving advice.

His staff sent a picture of him practicing his sword work passed through his mind. Thad nearly laughed. It had been too long since he last went through his forms. Sitting his staff against the wall Thad moved out into the larger open cavern.

His right arm was still a little stiff when he began to stretch and hurt slightly when he lifted it above his head. The bruises from the battle were fading but far too slowly for his liking. Remembering the battle Thad switched the sword to his left hand and tried the same form just in reverse.

The whole process felt weird to him. He had trained with both hands back in the Slave Academy but even then it had only been when he was forced to. Now the sword felt heavy and ungainly in his hands. He had learned firsthand what could happen in a battle and knew he needed more practice but it was much like learning all over again. Thad tried not to let frustration get to him as he bumbled about missing steps and even on occasion dropping his sword but it wasn’t easy.

By the time Crusher and Avalanche returned from their outing Thad was sweating profusely. Crusher watched him work intently while Avalanche thought he was playing and bounced around nipping and barking at his sword as it dipped and sliced through the air.

Afraid to nick Avalanche with the sword Thad sheathed it and headed back to his bed roll. After a few steps he unconsciously called his staff to his hand. As it popped into his hand he began to wonder if he had called it or if it had decided to come to him on its own. It was hard to tell for certain and where his staff was concerned he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. At first it had been a wonder to him when he had learned it had a consciousness of its own, as more time passed though it became clear that it wasn’t always a blessing.

Thad noticed that Crusher was pulling a multitude of items from his pack. The most curious of which was a block of wood that was as black as night. Thad hadn’t seen the block before or heard of any tree with wood of such a color. His curiosity getting the better of him Thad closed his eyes and examined the wood with his magical sight. The wood looked odd even to his magical sight. It glowed lightly with two different elemental auras nature and darkness. It wasn’t a strong flow just a slight pulse.

Among the other items were; a small hammer, a chisel, and a small metal club made of the same white metal that Crusher’s axe was made from. Crusher meticulously inspected each item before setting them aside. When everything seemed to be in order Crusher turned to Thad and pointed at one of the ultra-light metal ingots then at Thad’s left eye. After a few repeats of the same motion Thad started to understand.

Pulling the other bright red gem from his pack Thad handed it over to Crusher’s waiting hand. The dwarf looked over the gem for a few moments then held it up and then pointed at his chest. It wasn’t hard for Thad to get the idea Crusher wanted the gem for his own. It was a priceless item for enchantments but part of him wanted to know what the dwarf was going to do with it. Shrugging his shoulders Thad smiled and nodded his head.

Once the gem was put away Crusher signaled for Thad to follow him. Crusher didn’t take him far just to the other end of the cavern and pointed at the wall. Thad wasn’t sure what the dwarf was getting at so he shrugged his shoulders. Then pulling the stick of coal that Thad had given him he drew a half circle on the wall then made a motion with his hands like he was digging it out.

Hoping he was right about what Crusher wanted Thad focused him mind and started making a cut about four foot deep into the rock face. After the initial cut was done he continued to cut in a checkered pattern across the rest of the rock. When he was finished he motioned for Crusher to move with him to the other end of the cavern. Once they were a safe distance away Thad started to build a massive ball of magical energy at the very back of what he had cut. When Thad thought it was large enough he released his hold on it.

As soon as Thad let loose of the magical energy, a loud humppruh echoed through the cavern as rock exploded forward with great force. The force of the explosion was much larger than Thad had anticipated and even though he knew it was coming, it still made his knees weak. Crusher laughed at his apparent fright at his own magic.

Once the raining rock settled down Thad and Crusher moved over to check out his handy work. The back of the hole had a large indention where he had released the pent up magical energy. Crusher still had to dig out some of the left over rock but Thad’s explosion had done a lot of the work. Once the half circle was cleaned out Crusher made another mark on the bottom on the half circle. Thad repeated the same tactic he had used on the first section this time making the magical ball of energy smaller to reduce the excess damage.

Though he hadn’t really used much magical energy Thad felt exhausted. It was already late in the day and after a full workout topped with using magic in its raw state he was ready for a good night’s rest but Crusher had other plans.

Before Thad could lie down Crusher handed him three large chunks of the white metal that he had seen Crusher pull from his pack earlier. Thad wasn’t sure what Crusher wanted him to do with the ore so he pointed at it then held his hands out questioning.

Crusher rubbed his chin for a few minutes before using the coal to draw on the stone floor. Thad waited patiently for Crusher to finish with his drawing. When Crusher sat back Thad looked down to see a rough drawing of a blacksmith hammer. A couple of thoughts ran though Thad’s mind when he saw what Crusher had drawn.

It was obvious he wanted Thad to make the head of a blacksmith hammer with the metal available. There was more than enough available for that each one of the pieces of metal were half the size of his head. What worried Thad is that given everything he had seen today the Crusher planned to do some blacksmithing before they left. Thad didn’t know how long it would take but every day he spent in this cavern was one day more it would be until he could once again feel the sun on his face.

From what Thad had seen he didn’t think it would be worth arguing with the dwarf. So resigning himself to a few more days in the cavern Thad started on the project for Crusher. The metal was strong and resisted his urge to make it move to his will. By the time he had the project finished sweat poured from every part of his body. Crusher seemed slightly worried when he collapsed on the ground when he was finished but he gave the dwarf a reassuring smile before his eyes rolled back and he was enveloped in darkness.

CHAPTER X

When Thad woke he found Avalanche lying quietly beside him though there was no sign of Crusher. When he sat up Avalanche nudged him gently and whined softly as she often did when she was worried. Thad had begun to understand her little nuances during their time together.

Patting Avalanche’s head reassuringly Thad got to his feet. Resigning himself to another day of sitting idly Thad decided to explore the tunnels surrounding the small cavern. He knew it wasn’t the ideal solution to the unexpected delay but it would at least allow him to stretch his legs. There were eight tunnels leading from the tunnel not counting the one that led back toward the underground river. For a moment he considered making metal walls to seal them off so he wouldn’t have to be crammed in his small room with the dwarf at night, but set the idea aside for something to work on later if he had the energy.

Normally Thad would pick the largest of the tunnels believing it had the largest chance of continuing on but since he wasn’t interesting in traveling too far Thad thought that a smaller tunnel might fit his purposes for the day.

The tunnel he finally chose wasn’t the smallest but was still narrow enough that he could place his hands on both walls. At first he tried to walk as quietly as possible but with Avalanche following rowdily behind him he decided it was a pointless endeavor. There was an upside to having Avalanche along, it allowed Thad to use his nightsight without worry.

While he walked Thad alternately closed one eye then the other trying to note the difference and similarities between nightsight and normal vision. Thad believed he was beginning to understand the meaning of some of the more subtle changes in heat around him. In many ways nightsight was much more detailed than his normal vision.

After making a sharp turn Thad noticed five moving humanoid figures in the distance. They were about the same size as Crusher but they were much thinner and their limbs were much longer. Taking a chance Thad switched his eye back into normal light spectrum and crept closer. When he was as close as he dared to approach Thad lit up the area with a ball of light that hung down the chamber above where the creatures had been.

As soon as the area lit up the creatures began looking around for its source. Thad didn’t know how they could tell there had been a change. When his eye was in its nightsight state he could only tell heat differences. The light put off no heat so there was no change in the surrounding area. Even without there being a change in heat all the creatures he had met in the subterranean could tell when he lit up the room and it seemed to cause most of them a fair amount of pain.

Besides their large eyes that looked way too big for their thin faces and ash gray skin the creatures could have passed as human children. Three of the creatures stood upright looking around while the other two hunched down on all fours sniffing the ground. They wore clothing that looked like it had been made with a fair amount of skill. Thad was so focused on the creatures he didn’t even notice that they had started moving in his direction slowly.

Thad was shaken from his trance when Avalanche began snarling next to him. Noticing his predicament Thad started to slowly back away from his hiding spot and back down the way he had come. After a few moments it became clear that there was no way that he was going to be able to move far enough away before they noticed him.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time Thad reached into one of his packs side pockets and pulled out one of his magical slugs. He hadn’t had a real chance to try them yet and the narrow passage seemed the perfect place for a test run. Not wanting to leave anything to the last minute Thad also freed his sword from its scabbard.

As the creatures rounded the corner Avalanche began to growl more intensely getting the creatures to look directly in their direction. Noticing Thad the creatures opened their maws impossibly wide and let out an ear shattering screech. Before advancing each creature pulled weapons from hidden spots in their clothing.

Thad was surprised at the appearance of weapons especially since they seemed to be made of metal instead of simple stone like the goblins used. They weren’t simple weapons either but looked as if they had been forged by an expert blacksmith. Given their clothing and weapons it was obvious they were from a sentient race. That left Thad with the slim hope that they were friendly. His hopes were soon dashed when a nasty barbed arrow whistled by striking the top portion of his shield and bounced off harmlessly.

With their intentions clear Thad let loose his first slug releasing its enchantment the second it was released from his hand. It shot forward but missed the creature by a hairs breath, not wasting any time Thad let loose his second slug this time catching one of the beasts in the chest blasting a large hole out its back and catching the creature behind it in the leg breaking it and sending the thing to the ground with a loud scream.

The three remaining creatures picked up their speed and raced toward him. Avalanche not content with waiting safely behind Thad, jumped at the nearest creature taking it full in the chest and bearing it to the ground. She made quick work of the poor thing ripping its throat out with her sharp rock teeth. As soon as the creature quit its struggling Avalanche jumped on the next one ripping at it fiercely.

Thad, shaking away his astonishment of the fierceness of Avalanche looked around for the last creature. He found it running back the way it came dragging the one he had injured with his slug behind him. Thad tried to hit it with one of his slugs but it flew wide striking the far wall harmlessly.

Thad waited for a few moments until he was sure that the creatures weren’t going to return before he put away the slug he held clutched in his hand. After taking a few deep breathes to calm his nerves Thad recalled his slugs using his ring. It worked perfectly bringing the slugs back minus the blood and gore.

With his slugs back in their pouch Thad began to search the bodies of the dead creatures. Up close they looked even more human though their large eyes were slightly off putting. Inside their pouches Thad found an assortment of items including a weird gold coin with odd writing on it. Thad took the gold coin as well as one of the creature’s swords. It was a bit smaller than he was comfortable with but it was better than to continuing using the ancient sword strapped to his waist.

After making sure the creatures had nothing else of use Thad headed back to the cavern he shared with Crusher. It couldn’t have been called a run but Thad moved with a purpose back toward the cavern. If the creatures were as intelligent as Thad believed there was a good chance on them returning and in greater numbers. Putting up defensive walls was no longer something he might consider doing, now it was a necessity.

When he got back to the cavern Thad found Crusher dumping a bag of the white metal on a large pile he had already accumulated in one of the corners of the room. Thad went up to him and using his illusions explained what had happened. Crusher pointed the weapon he had gotten from the creature with a large frown on his face. When Thad nodded the Dwarf rubbed his hand over his bald scalp shaking his head.

Thad could tell the dwarf was worried but tried to allay his fears by explaining his plan to block off all the entrances to the cavern using the ultra-light metal. Crusher shook his head and pointed at the white metal then flexed his arm. Thad understood the dwarf’s point the white metal was much stronger than anything he had ever seen, not even forged steel could hold up but changing it took a massive amount of energy. Thad tried to explain the size of a gem he would have to have to make its possible just getting the dwarf to shrug.

As if not paying attention to anything he was saying Crusher drew a picture of an anvil in the ground then pointed at the pile of white metal stacked carelessly in the corner of the cavern. Thad pointed at the metal, then the picture, then himself to make sure he understood what the dwarf was asking. Crusher shook his hand giving Thad a hearty pat on the back nearly sending him crashing to the floor with his strength.

Thad not wanting to argue started on the task. Crusher had lived in the tunnels for all his life for all he knew so he should be more than aware of what they should be doing. While he worked Crusher grabbed his bag and collected Avalanche to join him then headed off down one of the larger tunnels leading from the cavern.

The work was hard as the metal resisted with every step. He was fresh today having only used a small portion of his own energy during the battle earlier. He had tried to form the metal into a massive block and cut away the excess but the metal was much stronger than he had anticipated. As hard as the metal was to mold it was even harder to cut so he had been forced to struggle and get it to bend to his will.

By the time Crusher returned he had the basic shape of the anvil finished with only minor details to work out. Placing his bag down next to Thad, Crusher inspected his work. He made a few marks on the white steel where it needed to be altered. Thad complied and began working on the changes and within the hour, the anvil was finished.

Tired and drained Thad slumped down to the ground sweat pouring from his body as if he had chopped a stack of wood in the heat of the summer. Crusher handed him a full water skin which he drained greedily. The water was much fresher than from his canteen and didn’t have the slight metallic aftertaste he had gotten used to. He wished he had the skill to make one but unlike metal animal skin refused to bend to his will.

Crusher sat the bag in his lap then went over to the hole in the wall and began placing some odd looking red rocks inside the bottom. As soon as he was finished with his task Crusher went to his pack and pulled out a yellow powder and sprinkled it liberally over the stones Thad using a flint stone and dagger ignited the powder with a bright flash. For a long time Crusher minded the fire until it was roaring illuminating over half the cavern.

The bag Crusher had given him was filled with gems of all sizes more than a few of them the size of his fist and of good quality. They would work perfect for the magical doors but even with this large of a supply he knew he would have to link more than one together or they would be severely limited on how many times they could leave their sanctuary.

Thad wasn’t in any shape to begin working again yet, so he busied himself with watching Crusher. Crusher first sat a large bowl made of dark stone into the fire and filled to the brim with the ultra-light metal. Once that was done he sat down with the hammer head Thad had made and the block of dark wood.

Thad watched as Crusher pulled a hidden dagger from under his tunic and began to carve the wood. The wood wasn’t that thick and he had it whittled down into a broad handle that he fit into the head of the hammer. Pulling two white nails from his pack Crusher tapped them into the wood using the head of his axe. Once the nails were well started he slammed the hammer a few times into the ground forcing the nails deep into the wood.

Crusher checked the metal over and over waiting patiently for it to melt. Thad had seen other blacksmiths doing the same though their forges were usually much bigger. While he waited Crusher pulled out his smaller hammer and five chisels ranging from the size of one of Thad’s fingers to the size of his hand. Pulling blocks of the same black rock that the bowl was made of Crusher began to chisel out the inside. Thad couldn’t see what he was making but the rhythmic sound of the chisel against the stone was lolling and he soon found his eyes too heavy to keep open.

Thad woke with a start realizing that he wasn’t behind the protection of his magical walls. He was happy to see that Crusher still worked nearby. The rock bowl still sat in the makeshift forge and Crusher was still chiseling away at one of the stone blocks. Three blocks had already been pushed against the wall apparently ready with whatever Crusher had planned for them.

Feeling much better Thad walked over and picked up one of the chunks of the white metal ore and sat back down next to the bag of gems. Before he could use the metal he had to push all the impurities out of the metal. It was always the hardest part of working with raw metal and with the strength of the white metal it was even more difficult.

Once the metal was in pure form Thad pulled the largest two gems from the pack. The secret to making the walls was not only the enchantment but designating where the crystals would be located. If the wall went up leaving the crystals exposed then one lucky blow could bring down the whole wall. Placing the enchantment was much easier than Thad would have thought considering the amount of trouble the metal had given him so far.

The way enchanting worked and the way his magicsmithing worked were completely separate. The enchantment directed the metal with magic encouraging it to spread itself within set parameters. The only thing that would stop the metal from expanding to the sizes indicated was if it met overwhelming resistance such as the tunnel walls. This ensured the walls were sealed tight and that it was nearly impossible to simply knock them down. Whenever he removed one of his magical walls there was usually a thin line in the rock wall nearly a foot deep.

Thad had tried to reproduce the same effect with his magic alone but he had found it impossible. It wasn’t that it couldn’t be done, but that he couldn’t keep the exact measurements in his mind all at once. With an enchantment it was easy since it was all preplanned and charted out within the metal itself. When he tried to mold it the metal it resisted him every step of the way but it took well to the enchanting process, not as good as the ultra-light metal, but still much better than he expected.

Though it didn’t seem like it was needed Thad still linked four plum size gems to the metal so that they wouldn’t have to worry about them running out of energy. Thad was only able to finish two of the magical walls before his energy was exhausted. Looking up from his own work Thad found Crusher using thick gloves to lift the rock bowl from the forge and pouring its contents into the molds arranged neatly on the ground.

Once all the molds were filled Crusher took a seat next to Thad and pulled out two haunches of cooked meat and handed him one of them. While they ate Thad pointed at the molds and made a questioning gesture with his hand. Crusher gave him his natural broad smile then pointed at the stump where his foot used to be.

Thad was amazed, if he had guessed right, Crusher was making him a new foot. He had tried making a metal foot but it was still and unyielding and hard to keep attached to his stump. He wasn’t sure how the dwarfs design would be different from his own but he found himself looking forward to finding out.

After they finished their meal Crusher placed some more of the red rocks that he had used for fuel in the makeshift forge and headed back to where their small room was located. Thad guessed it was time to turn in but before he lay down for the night he wanted to get the two magical walls in place he had finished. He chose to put one over the tunnel he had taken when he had found the weird creatures and the other on the tunnel nearest to it.

The next morning Thad woke from the gentle nudging of Crusher. Thad knew something was wrong the second his eyes focused as his companion already had his battle axe out and in hand. After his head cleared Thad could hear what had alerted Crusher to the possible danger. He could hear voices in the outside cavern though the language was foreign to him.

Following his friends lead Thad pulled his new sword from its makeshift scabbard. The balance was good but it still felt odd in his hand. The blade was shorter, and thinner than was normal. He had meant to enchant the blade but it didn’t look like he had the time now.

Crusher patted him on the shoulder and pointed at the wall and signaled for him to take it down. Thad was a bit hesitant to take down their only defense but placed his hand on the wall none the less praying that the dwarf knew what he was doing. As soon as the wall disappeared Crusher rushed out with Avalanche following quickly behind him. Thad wasn’t as eager as his two companions moving slowly and cautiously.

Thad found the cavern filled with the same creatures he had seen the other day. More than twenty of the creatures had made the way into their cavern home. Crusher was making quick work of a large group of them while Avalanche attacked at any creature unfortunate enough to get within her range.

Thad started pulling slugs from his pack and firing them off at any creatures far enough away from his companions that he didn’t have to worry about hitting the wrong target. He still didn’t have great accuracy only hitting one out of every four targets he aimed at. Soon he was down to his last pack and he had only taken out a few of the creatures and for each one he took down another quickly replaced it.

Soon he was out of slugs and left only with the sword in his hand. Avalanche was doing well and looked in no danger as the creature’s weapons seemed completely ineffective against the animal’s stone skin. Crusher wasn’t fairing so well he didn’t appear to have any deep wounds but he was surrounded and Thad knew it would only be a matter of time before he fell due to sheer numbers.

Thad rushed into the weakest area of the attackers, taking one from behind. His new sword while awkward in his hand was wickedly sharp and slid easily into the creature’s soft flesh. As soon as the sword slid free of its burden Thad did a half turn snapping his hips as the blade met with the neck of his next victim. As the body fell to the ground Thad pressed his attack until he broke through to where Crusher fought.

Crusher gave a whoop when he saw Thad along with one of his grins. Soon the two were fighting back to back. It wasn’t perfect and sometimes they got in each other’s way but thanks to Thad’s magical shield neither of them was touched by their enemy’s weapons.

When the last enemy fell Thad and Crusher slumped to the ground amidst the heap of dead bodies laughing. Thad wasn’t sure how many of the creatures were strewn around the cavern but from where he sat it looked like far more than he remembered fighting.

After a quick breather Thad and Crusher began searching the bodies for anything of use. There were plenty of weapons and Thad chose a few well balanced daggers for his own, while Crusher inspected each one tossing them aside one by one. When they were finished they took them far enough out into the tunnels that the smell of their rotting corpses wouldn’t reach them.

CHAPTER XI

Thad worked hard and got the rest of the magical walls finished the day after the attack. Crusher continued on as if nothing had happened in fact he seemed to have a bit more bounce in his step since the grueling battle. In the stories dwarfs were always depicted as a little battle hungry and Thad was beginning to believe that was more fact that fiction.

With the magical walls up they didn’t have to worry about anymore night time visits from their little friends though they could still hear them mulling around in the outside tunnels. It was weird, they would come close enough to the magical walls to be heard but they never tested them and as far as he knew they never even touched them.

With the walls up and little to do until Crusher finished his new foot Thad spent his day watching Crusher work the forge. After the molds had set he had went straight into reheating the metal and making minor changes. Thad wasn’t sure what the dwarf was doing but listening to the rhythmic banging of his hammer was somewhat peaceful.

Thad did notice one weird thing when Crusher removed his armor due to the heat the small forge was putting off. The dwarf had two large tattoos, one on his right arm the other in the middle of his shoulder blades. The tattoos were made in an elegant flowing design that looked as if it might be writing. He wasn’t sure what they meant but even without using his magical sight he could tell they were more than just mundane markings.

Four days after the attack Crusher finally finished his project. The object that Crusher placed in front of him was a large black boot. Thad pulled back the boots leather to see the series of shaped layers of metal within. He wasn’t sure how it worked but was more than eager to try it on.

After turning off his magic aid Thad let the metal loosen and pulled it from the end of his stub. The smell that drifted up to his nose from his now exposed flesh nearly made him gag. In the time he had worn the metal cuff over his stump he hadn’t removed it once to wash the skin underneath and with all the sweating it had become more than rank.

Thad washed the dirt and smell from his leg then began strapping on his new foot. The boot strapped to his leg tightly by a series of buckles. It didn’t take long to get everything situated and soon Thad was standing on his own without magical aid for the first time since he had escaped from his prison cell.

Thad took a few practice steps and found that with the exception of the small discomfort where the buckles were pinching his skin it felt as if he was walking on his real foot again. Thad moved from a slow walk into a faster one until he was at a full sprint. He had gotten so used to the magical aid that it felt odd to once again have something solid underneath him. Looking down to see his two boots Thad let a large grin spread across his face.

Thad wasn’t sure when Crusher had gotten his other boot from his pack but he was glad he had. He wasn’t even sure why he had held onto the boot other than it was one of the few pieces of clothing left to him. Each boot was unique and held a small gem as well as metal plate in the bottom of them. He had enchanted them shortly after the queen had given them to him back in the palace. He had thought about doing the same thing to his clothing but then he risked having them break every time he had them washed. Looking down at the rags he now wore he wished he had risked it with at least one pair at the very least.

Crusher grabbed his bag then walked to one of the larger tunnel exists and tapped the metal then turned back toward Thad and signaled for him to follow. Thad was almost overcome they were finally moving on with their journey. Over the past few days he had worried that this was going to become his new home, now he had hope that at least some day in the future he would once again feel the sun on his face.

Thad held up his hand asking Crusher to wait as he ran around the room gathering his effects. He took down all of the magical walls including all the ones he had recently made. He had made the mistake of leaving the ones in the other cavern in place in the off chance he might once again need its sanctuary. He didn’t plan to make the same mistake twice.

With his belongings in hand Thad moved over to where Crusher waited patiently for him. Once he took the wall blocking the path down Crusher headed off with Thad right behind him. While they walked Thad asked Crusher where they were headed. Crusher tried to explain it with his hands but Thad only understood that wherever they were headed was a good distance away.

The first few miles were easy enough but soon it was easy for him to tell how weak his right leg had gotten. The magic that had kept him up also kept his leg from having to do much work. It had worked well when he was using it but now he was starting to regret not working out his leg more while he had worn it.

Crusher took pity on him and slowed down his pace as well as taking breaks to let him rest. Every time they stopped Thad would loosen the new boot and rub the area where it chafed and pinched. He knew that given time the area would toughen and callous but at the moment it was raw and sore. To help with the pain Crusher offered him a bright green salve to rub into it. Thad wasn’t sure where he had gotten the mixture and at the moment didn’t really care. It was cool and made his leg numb, slightly reducing his discomfort.

They stopped earlier than Thad normally would have but with his right leg screaming he was more than glad for the early respite. He went to put up the walls but Crusher stooped him after he had gotten the one up behind them. Thad wasn’t sure why Crusher wanted to wait but he trusted his new friend.

Crusher sat down his pack and unhitched his axe from its resting place on his back and headed off down the tunnel. Thad stood to follow him but he was quickly waved back with Crusher’s normal smile. Thad wasn’t sure what was going on but so far nothing the dwarf had done had brought him any trouble. The only one who seemed to get themselves in tight spots was Thad. Avalanche didn’t seem to be bothered by anything as she picked out a comfortable spot and laid down.

Crusher returned after a short time dragging one of the subterranean lizards behind him. Thad wished he knew how the dwarf always was able to find a source of food. The only times Thad had had a guaranteed source of food was when he had been living in his large cavern and when he had traveled next to the river teaming with fish.

As they sat Crusher pulled the nub of coal that was left and began drawing on the ground. Due to the dark color of the stone in the area even with his magical light it was hard for Thad to see what Crusher was drawing. After awhile it was clear it was a mountain range surrounding something but he couldn’t tell what. When he still didn’t get it Crusher drew a bunch of stick men and pointed at his chest then the crude drawing of the men.

Thad made an illusion of a small underground village with lots of miniature Crushers running around. From his companions reaction he had gotten part of it right but not quite the whole picture. Thad wasn’t sure what he was missing but Crusher seemed happy that he had gotten the main points.

It was frustrating trying to communicate with Crusher sometimes. It would have been different if the dwarf could at least speak Thad could try and learn the language. He had always enjoyed languages when he was in the Slave Academy but sadly the Dwarven language wasn’t one of them offered.

After the meal Thad put up the other wall effectively sealing them in. Thad lay on his bedroll staring at the ceiling. All the questions he wished to ask Crusher, but was unable to, drifting through his mind. What were those creatures they had fought called? What was the secret behind his tattoos?

Looking over at his companion Thad found him with his axe stretched across his legs as he rubbed a whet stone on its blade. Considering the near indestructible metal the blade of the axe was made of Thad didn’t think he was accomplishing much. From what he had seen of Crusher it was more of a habit than practical though in truth he knew too little about the weapon or the dwarf to know for sure.

Over the next few days Crusher slowly increased his pace forcing Thad to push himself to keep up with the burly dwarf. His leg was starting to get used to the torture but he knew it was still a long way until he wouldn’t have to pop the blisters that were forming every day.

During his time in the subterranean networks he had always had trouble telling if he was going toward the surface or down farther into the depths of the earth. That had not been the case in the past days. The ground below them had sloped upward and more than once Thad had been forced to climb up a steep ledge. Crusher had found his attempts to climb up one of the steeper slopes particular entertaining.

They started to run into more of the weird creatures that they had faced back in the cavern. The first few times they had simply fought them quickly finishing off their prey but their numbers steadily began to increase to the point where stealth was a more suitable solution. Thad could tell that Crusher would prefer to rush into battle and had to fight against his natural instincts.

The look on Crusher’s face began to get worried with the passing of each day. He began to take longer on deciding which tunnel to take and he would often check the walls thoroughly as if looking for something. When they settled down to rest for the night Crusher seemed more agitated than normal.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him Thad moved over and took a seat next to Crusher at the fire. In his disturbed state he didn’t even take note of Thad’s presence. Thad sat awkwardly for a few moments trying to think of a way to broach the subject until he finally swallowed his nerves and tapped on the dwarf’s shoulder. Crusher didn’t respond, so Thad put more force using his whole hand instead of just a few fingers.

When Crusher finally turned to look at him, Thad could easily tell that there was more going on than the increased presence of the creatures in the tunnels on his friends mind. Now that he had the dwarfs attention Thad was at a loss on how to ask the question without the use of words. Hoping Crusher would get the point Thad made a sad face then pointed at the dwarf’s head.

Crusher ran his hand over his bald head his face contorted in concentration. After a few moments to gather his thoughts Crusher began trying to explain what had been on his mind. Crusher didn’t pause or give Thad a chance to get clarification on what he meant he just continued to rant using his hands. Thad was sure the dwarf was frustrated and even though Thad only caught the meaning of a few of the gestures it was helping Crusher get it off his mind.

From what Thad did catch it seemed that the tunnels belonged to his village and the presence of the creatures didn’t bode well. He was torn between the decision to return home or to fight the beasts that now roamed the darkness taking what belonged to his people. The rest was lost to him in Crusher’s frantic waving.

Thad wasn’t sure what to do, from what he understood they were close to Crusher’s home bringing Thad even closer to his goal of returning to his own home. On the other hand his friend wanted to chase the creatures from what he considered his peoples’ land. Thad would think the obvious choice would be to return to the dwarven village and gather more soldiers but it didn’t seem like Crusher wanted to wait.

Thad knew that it would be near impossible to find the dwarven village on his own. Leaving his fate in the hands of whatever his friend decided. Thad knew that he could argue and try to persuade the dwarf toward what he wanted, but would that be right. What would he do in the same situation?

It didn’t take long for Thad to come to find an answer. He had seldom been rational in most of his decisions. He was sure that if faced with the same situation he would do exactly like Crusher. Run into the fight well before he found a better solution. His staff didn’t seem to like his train of thought as it forced pictures of him and the dwarf lying dead in a dark tunnel. His staff did have a point even with Crusher’s inhuman strength and Thad’s magic if they followed this path there was a good chance they would both end up dead.

In the end it was an easy decision. He had only had few friends in his life and many of them had taken great risks for his sake. Joan had taken him in even knowing he was an escaped slave. The princess had kept his secret knowing her mother was anxious to find him. Monique had partnered with him knowing full well that if anyone found out he was an escaped slave her business would suffer, and Eloen had helped him escape capture at great personal risk.

With everything his friends had gone through to help him when he was in need. There was no way he would turn his back on someone now when they needed him even if it was an insane mission.

Thad placed his hand on Crusher shoulder as he continued ranting with his hands oblivious to the fact Thad wasn’t paying attention anymore. When his companion finally stopped his frantic hand gestures and looked at him Thad opened his hand and showed the dwarf an illusion of the two of them fighting a horde of the creatures that now roamed the subterranean tunnels.

Crusher looked at him awestruck for a few minutes then let out what Thad was sure would have been a roaring laugh as he pounded Thad hard on the back. Thad joined in his friend’s laughter.

Crusher quickly switched from celebrating to planning how the three could best attack the invaders. Thad had some trouble following but not much as Crusher drew figures on the ground often scribbling one out and redrawing it to make it clearer to his friend.

The plan was simple they would stalk and attack any group they could find that seemed small enough to handle in a short period of time without the use of Thad’s magic. At the same time they would have to dodge the larger patrols and armed groups. After a short time the enemy would begin searching for whoever was killing off their men. The increase in troops would allow Thad’s magic to be put into devastating effect. Crusher wanted to know if Thad could make magical traps that would only be triggered by the creatures and not them or any other unsuspecting being.

After giving it a lot of thought Thad figured it wouldn’t be impossible for him to make magical traps. Since they wouldn’t be held he wouldn’t have to worry about the feedback problem he had been faced with when trying to make rings with offensive capabilities.

The plan was brilliant as far as Thad could tell. By keeping his magic a secret the enemy wouldn’t be prepared for the magical onslaught allowing them to take out large number of troops very easily. There was still the problem of what to do when the enemy adjusted for his magic after he began putting it into effect, but until they knew of how they would respond there was little they could do to prepare for it themselves.

With the basic plan set out for the coming war Thad and Crusher settled down for a good sleep not knowing when the next time it would be afforded to them. Even with the promise of bloody days ahead Thad had no trouble falling into a peaceful slumber. It was frightening that he had grown so accustomed to bloodshed. The fear that he would not only grow used to the endless battles but also grow to enjoy them much as his friend did crept into his mind. Thad tried to dispel the fear but it continued to linger in the back of his mind.

CHAPTER XII

The first day of their personal war started slow. They had come across a few of the enemy but Crusher had let them go without challenge. The groups weren’t large and Thad could not see the reason to let them go but in the end he was leaving the majority of the choices up to his friend. It was his war and Thad couldn’t argue that he had vastly more experience in the subterranean world than he did.

Crusher was using Avalanche by having her scout ahead using an enchantment Thad had made that allowed him to see around her with little effort. While the rock dog was loud the creatures seemed to take little notice after her initial appearance. They would watch her but other than that they treated her as a passing curiosity, allowing them to stalk their prey effortlessly.

Instead of having to describe everything that was happening around Avalanche to Crusher Thad linked the new enchantment to a polished piece of the ultra-light metal. It wasn’t as good as a mirror but with a little magical assistance they were able to see what was going on. With little to do and Crusher seeming intent on merely watching their enemies Thad sat down with his magical tome and began to read.

After four pages into his book Crusher tapped him on the shoulder grabbing his attention. After a small pause Crusher pointed at the polished piece of metal. Looking at it he saw that Avalanche was stalking a small group of only five creatures. One of the creatures was slightly different than what he was used to seeing. It had a much larger body standing nearly two foot taller than its companions. While it was obvious that the creatures were the same breed they were bred for different purposes.

It didn’t take long for them to reach where the creatures were located. The four smaller creatures carried tools that looked as if they were made for mining while the large one simply stood behind them looking intimidating. Thad and Crusher positioned themselves a good distance away and watched them through the magically linked metal mirror.

They moved slowly, searching the tunnels intently until they found what they were looking for and began to chip away at the rock. One of the smaller creatures accidently dropped its load onto the larger ones foot and was rewarded with a vicious backhand. From what Thad had seen of the creatures he had expected the smaller one to attack back but it simply whimpered and went back to work.

The battle started easily with Avalanche springing into action and ripping the throat out of one of the smaller creatures then turning and running back toward where Thad and Crusher hid. The creatures took the bait and chased after Avalanche with the larger one leading the charge. Focused on the dog they didn’t even notice them until Crusher’s axe took the large one full in the chest.

Surprisingly the larger creature didn’t die from the attack and pulled the blade of the axe from its chest and lifting Crusher from the ground as he stubbornly held onto the axe’s haft. Thad made a cut across the back of the creature’s outstretched arm causing him to drop Crusher. As soon as he regained his feet Crusher started hacking at the creature’s leg as if he was a lumberjack trying to fell a tree. Thad wanted to help his friend but he had his own worries and he fended off the attacks of two of the three remaining smaller creatures.

Avalanche was faring much better than he was as she darted in and out attacking the remaining creature who was frantically trying to escape her vicious attacks. Thad didn’t know how much he had begun to rely on his magic until he had faced off without using it in an offensive manner. He still had his shield but he had to forcibly refrain himself from using any of his magic offensively.

Thad had only finished off one of the creatures when he was joined by both Avalanche and Crusher. With the three of them the poor creature had little chance and were soon overwhelmed. With the battle finished Thad and Crusher looted the bodies taking everything including the clothes from the creature’s backs. Thad wasn’t sure why they went so far but if that’s what Crusher wanted to do then he didn’t have a problem with it.

When their morbid task was done they returned to their base. Crusher had picked the place out and Thad had to agree it was perfect for their needs. It was a network of dead-end tunnels giving Thad and Crusher their own small room. Their first night there Thad had placed one of his magical walls up and added an extra enchantment to make it look like the surrounding walls to both normal vision and nightsight.

The spoils they didn’t need were thrown in the farthest room. They hadn’t got much of use, a few more of the weird coins and a couple of gems were all that Thad had found. Crusher had taken a dagger that looked as if it was of dwarven make, as well as a couple of the weird coins.

In the largest room Thad had built a fire pit in the ground and on the far wall Crusher had begun a large map. It outlined the surrounding tunnels and marked their recent encounter with a large x. Food was plentiful besides what they were able to scrounge off the dead creatures, as there was a nice herd of sheep like creatures not far away.

The creatures looked like sheep though they had seven eyes and where their mouth should have been there was a sucker. Thad figured they lived off the moss that grew thickly in the subterranean tunnels. He had succumbed to eating the moss before and while it tasted foul it had sustained him.

While Crusher sat next to the fire pit sharpening his axe Thad worked on some magical traps. The plan was to have them set off for anything except them. He had worked with making an enchantment work only for him but this time it was in reverse. It wasn’t as easy to do as he had initially thought. While making it set off by movement was easy and excluding himself was simple as well. The trouble came from when he tried to add in Crusher and Avalanche.

It was a fun project for him as he could finally use spells that he had otherwise considered out of his reach due to the backflow. Whenever a physical spell was cast such as fire or lightning, the item channeling the spell also got a small backlash of the effect. If it was fire the person wearing the ring would be burnt and if lightning would receive a nasty shock. He had once tried to replace the metal with wood but that worked even less as the fire burned or blew apart nearly taking off some of his fingers.

He had thought about insulating the metal using a layer of rock but he had yet to try it. Whenever the idea occurred to him he was too busy to try it and when he had time it always seemed to skip his mind for other more interesting ideas.

Currently he was working on a lightning trap. Just like his paralyzing ring it sought out any nearby bodies and targeted them. To make sure they didn’t set off the traps Thad had made, a set of rings that he and Crusher could wear and for Avalanche he had made a necklace that she could wear around her neck. There was still the chance she could rub it off but it was the best thing he could come up with.

They wouldn’t be putting the traps into effect until the tunnels flooded with enemy soldiers looking for whatever was killing off their people. Thad wasn’t sure how long that would take but every day he had gave him time to make more traps to help reduce the enemies’ numbers. From what he had seen there were countless numbers of the creatures and every one that they killed without having to engage increased their chances of surviving this endeavor.

Over the next few days they continued to stalk their prey only attacking if there were six or less of them in one group. Thad had gotten much better at timing his initial attacks to do the most damage. During their fights he had learned that the enemy had at least three different types of soldiers. There was the small agile ones that seemed to do most of the manual labor and the large ones who protected the smaller ones as well as kept them in line whenever they seemed to argue amongst themselves. There was also one that was in-between the two, though taller than the large one, it wasn’t as well built and seemed to be in charge.

They had only found one of them so far and even though the group was slightly larger than the ones they had faced so far Crusher was eager to attack. From Crusher’s actions and eagerness he was sure that the new creature was important to their enemies. The battle had been short lived as Crusher’s axe had found the tall one first nearly cutting it in half as Thad and Avalanche rushed the others scattering them and easily cutting them down in the ensuing chaos.

Each day when they finished their hunting they would return to their base and plan out the next day’s attacks. They had centered their attacks a good ways from where they were based and kept them to a close group of tunnels in hopes that they could lure a large group of soldiers into one area. Every time they went out Thad would place the traps he had made the night before but he wouldn’t activate them. The traps would simply lay dormant until he decided it was time for them be of use. He could either activate them all at once from a distance or set one off from close range without activating the others.

The traps were an assortment of types from fire, lightning, ice, light, and darkness. The wide array of types was Crusher’s idea. Thad figured it was to increase the amount of panic and confusion among their enemies but without being able to really discuss the issues with Crusher he only had guesses. His staff had also been helpful with some of the ideas for traps, giving him a picture of how one could be used much like his exploding glass orbs. It was simple it would build up magic and then destroying itself causing all the magic to be released in a massive explosion. There was some risk in using an explosion, namely a cave-in, but Thad figured it was worth the risk.

Thad’s favorite new enchantment was the different magical eyes he had placed around the tunnels. They were each linked to the metal mirror just like the one hung around Avalanche. It allowed them to search out the area they had hit without the need to let Avalanche go out.

Thad had learned a lot from watching the enemies when they discovered their dead allies. Unlike humans they didn’t seem to mourn their dead. They would simply drag them off then begin looking around for the perpetrators.

With his spare time Thad had also been working on a new spell that could be effective without leaving a noticeable trace. It was simple, so much so that he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it before. All the spell did was push against whatever it was targeted too. It could be used to push down from any direction the only problem Thad faced was adjusting the force to be effective without being deadly. In the end he came up with three different strengths for the spell and placed it on a rune and added it to his necklace.

Their loot room was growing steadily with an assortment of goods. Thad had found a bastard sword much to his liking on their third excursion. It was well balanced though he could have done without the bone hilt. Crusher had noticed the sword as well and without being asked changed the hilt out with one from another of the other swords, making Thad wonder what kind of bone it had been.

Thad had heard of evil creatures who lived off bringing others pain but most of them only functioned on the most base of thoughts. These creatures not only seemed to revel in the pain of others they seemed intelligent. They obviously knew how to make weapons and clothing and had a language even if Thad couldn’t understand it. The idea of an intelligent group living under the earth that prayed on others indiscriminately sent a shiver down his spine.

On the fifth day, one of the creatures found one of Thad’s magical eyes and placed it in one of their pouches. Thad contemplated canceling the spell but decided against it after giving it a bit of thought. Later that day the magical eye was passed off to one of the tall creatures.

The tall creature carrying it kept it in its own pouch but would bring it out occasionally to look at it. Two days after it had been taken Thad got his first view of how the creatures lived. When the tall creature pulled the gem out and presented it to another of his kind though this one seemed squat and fat compared to the others he had seen.

It wasn’t the other creature that had caught his attention but the surroundings. It was obviously a small village but it was built right into a massive cavern. Thad couldn’t see all of it but from what he could see it looked as if the Farlan capital could easily fit inside the cavern. The creature looking at the gem was obviously a merchant as it had an assortment of other items placed in front of him on a shoddy looking table.

After a few moments the merchant handed the other creature a bag of something and took the gem placing it in a lockbox. Thad knew he should cancel the spell but his curiosity had piqued. He had never imagined such a place as that before. He wondered if the dwarves lived in the same fashion. Suddenly the urge to continue onto the dwarven village hit him and he had to force it aside and concentrate on the war ahead of him. Switching the magical mirror to another of the eyes Thad continued to watch the tunnels for any signs of their enemies.

That night when Thad laid down to sleep the vision of the massive underground town filled his thoughts. The sight of the thousands of the creatures moving around scared him. At first he had no clue how many of the creatures roamed the tunnels and now he had gotten a small glimpse of their home. If they sent even a fraction of their true strength against them there would be no way they could hold out against them. With those thoughts thoroughly in his mind he drifted off into an unsettling sleep filled with thoughts of being tortured at the hands of the monstrous creatures.

CHAPTER XIII

It didn’t take long before the tunnels were filled with search parties that began scouring every corner for whatever had been attacking their men. The first few days of the increased activity they were still able to kill a few of the smaller groups without the use of magic but now the tunnels were packed so tight with the creatures even leaving their base without being seen was a challenge.

Thad had figured that once the tunnels were crawling with enough creatures they would rush out and fight until they finally fell. Luckily he was wrong as Crusher continued to plan out strategic movements that would allow them to take out their enemies with little danger to themselves.

He still hadn’t had to use any of his magical traps even though with as tightly packed as the creatures were he could deal a massive blow at any time he wanted. The problem was it was hard to keep himself from doing just that. Crusher wanted to wait until they engaged an enemy in the area to use the traps in case they needed them to escape or to increase the confusion among the enemy troops. It sounded reasonable to Thad but it was like holding a wrapped package and not being able to open it until you’re told.

To take his mind off of the traps Thad had taken to watching the magical eyes including the one that had now traveled into the enemy’s city. The gem had changed place many times over the past few days and right now it had been fixed onto a gaudy necklace that hung around what he believed to be one of their females.

There were obvious feminine traits to the creature and Thad had to admit that she was beautiful in her own fashion. Unlike the other creatures who had ash grey skin the females were almost ivory white. Their eyes were smaller but still slightly larger than that of a human. Their body was slender and their fingers were shorter than their male counterparts. None of the males Thad had seen had hair but the females had long pale blue hair.

Thad found himself captivated by the creature that now held the gem. He wished he had added an extra enchantment that allowed him to hear as well. He wasn’t a genius but if he could pick up a few of the words of their language it might come in handy.

He had learned a lot from his hours at watching their enemies. Thad had seen children only once so far though there had been hundreds of them. They looked young most of them barely old enough to walk and were being trained to fight. The sight really drove the point home that the creatures were completely warlike in nature.

Thad had mixed emotions about the creatures from what he had seen. They were warlike but not completely evil as he had first surmised. He had seen them laugh and talk in a group setting though there didn’t seem to be a traditional family structure. There seemed to be one member in a group that was in charge either male or female that ordered the others. Even that was a guess since he only had his own sight for a reference.

Shortly after Crusher finished his planning he grabbed up Thad and Avalanche for their daily sortie. The halls nearest their base were clear so they quickly exited and put the wall back up.

The air surrounding them reverberated with noise that echoed from every corner of the tunnels. Usually one could follow the noises of the underground to whatever was making them but with so much noise it was nearly impossible to tell what noise was coming from what direction.

They headed down one of the smaller tunnels. The small tunnel narrowed even more forcing Thad to crawl on his hands and knees. It was slow and slightly painful and got even worse when the tunnels started sloping up and he had to fight for a handhold just to pull himself forward.

Thad breathed a sigh of relief when the tunnel finally started widening back out. It wasn’t enough for him to stand all the way to his feet but at least the feeling that the world was collapsing around him was gone.

When Crusher came to a stop he moved over against the tunnel wall and signaled for Thad to join him. The tunnel they were in seemed to stop abruptly at a ledge overlooking one of the larger caverns where they had concentrated a lot of their attacks. It made sense to Thad why they had waited and only attacked in certain areas. If there were other tunnels like this that allowed them to move in and attack from a position of great advantage they could kill most of the enemies before they even knew they were present.

Thad had a little trouble seeing the exact number of enemies as he only had his nightsight vision to go off of. He hadn’t used his normal sight in days outside of the base. It wasn’t for lack of want though but Crusher had refused to let any amount of light to be used forcing Thad into his only other option. On the upside once the battle begun he was allowed to bath the room in as much light as he wanted.

He had tried to fight without light before and if not for his shield he would have died a very quick death. He was getting better every day at using his nightsight but the few seconds it took him to decipher what was happening it had already happened. Not only was his response time slowed down there was also the small problem of his narrow vision since only one eye had the ability to see in nightsight.

Below there were six of the creatures in the center of the room sitting around in a circle calmly eating. It looked like the perfect group to attack until Crusher pointed out the others that were hidden around the cavern tucked into every nook and cranny that could hold them. All told there was at least three dozen of the creatures packed into the room. It was a good ambush and had Crusher not been with him Thad would have easily fell for the bait. The problem with an ambush is that once known about there are certain ways someone can exploit it.

Crusher pointed to Thad’s pouch of magical slugs then toward where the hidden creatures were located. Thad knew he still wasn’t a great shot with the weapon but he was getting better with them with every throw.

The first slug arced silently threw the air until its enchantment was released then it jumped forward speeding toward its target. Thad had aimed for the center of the creature and though his aim was still off it stuck the poor thing high ripping through its neck. Thad tried to call back the slug but was too slow and the sound of its slamming into the wall reverberated throughout the cavern.

The other creatures looked around for the source of the noise and one of them spotted their downed comrade and went to inspect. Thad feared he had messed up but from the slight sound coming from his friend he could tell he was enjoying the spectacle.

While the creature looked over its fallen comrade Thad loaded another slug and fired. Its aim was true and busted through the creatures back sending it wailing to the floor. Thad called the slug back the second he knew it had hit, and this time the only sound that filled the cavern was the dying calls of the creature, which now twitched on the ground as its blood pooled below it.

Every creature in the cavern took notice as their comrade thrashed on the ground. Thad thought that while they were distracted by their dying comrade it would be the perfect time to attack but Crusher held him back and signaled for him to continue with his slugs.

Thad did as he was instructed and looked around for the best target. Most of the creatures were packed together looking around at their now dead companions but there were a few who were searching the dark for whatever had caused their death. Thad found one that was alone and fired the slug. It arc and twisted missing the moving target by inches. Thad called back the slug but he was too slow to keep it from slamming hard into the stone.

The creature called out and the others began to move in a hurry to his position but his hollering was cut short as Thad’s second slug caught him in the back of the head spraying the creatures that rushed to his call with gore. Not wanting to waste the hysteria that was beginning to grip the creatures below him Thad let loose another of his slugs catching one of the creatures who was lagging behind in the shoulder, ripping its arm from its body.

Thad continued to rip through their ranks with his magical slugs taking them out one at a time. With each new death they got less organized and more than one ran from the cavern to the safety of the tunnels beyond. Thad ran out of magical charged slugs when only three of the creatures remained.

With nothing left to do Crusher jumped from their high perch landing with a small tumbling to the ground below. It wasn’t a far fall but just high enough that Thad knew it would send a nasty shock through his body. Jumping down Thad sent a wave of magical force to the ground below softening his landing. The spell worked a little too well and Thad ended up looking like a piece of wood bobbing in water as he came to a rest inches above the ground.

Before Thad had time to get his bearings Crusher had already dispatched the remaining foes. With little else to do Thad started on rummaging through the mass of bodies stripping them of all their worldly belongings. Most of them only carried the same basic items the others had but one of the larger creatures carried a sword that gave off a distinct magical aura.

Unlike the other magical items they had found on the creatures that were obviously of dwarven make this one had a different feel to it. Thad didn’t have time at the moment to inspect his find so he strapped it to his pack so he could look at it closer at his leisure.

There was a large amount of stuff stacked in the center of the room by time they were done. This had easily been their biggest engagement and he had not used anything overtly magical in nature. His slugs were all he really used but the magical signature they left was quickly absorbed back into the natural flow of energies around them.

Crusher pulled out the magical pack he had made him and began stuffing the loot in it. When they had first begun their forays into the tunnels Crusher had emptied the metal ingots and piled them in his room. It was a brilliant idea and it allowed them to move a large amount of loot without having to carry it through the tunnels on their backs.

Once back in their base Thad moved back to his room with the magical sword he had found. It looked much like the others he had found among the creatures. The only difference from the sword in his hand and many of the others he had found was the fact it held magical properties. Closing his eyes Thad started to check the sword with his magical sight.

The enchantment on the weapon was simple. It allowed the sword to draw in shadow and use it to magically damage whatever it was cut with. It didn’t so much as cut but simply destroyed whatever it came in contact with. It was an easy use of magical force but it had its limits. If the weapon was used in the sunlight it would be no more dangerous than a normal weapon but here where everything was cloaked in darkness it was a dangerous weapon indeed. Now that he understood how the enchantment was made he knew he could reproduce it with almost any element, though some of them would be impractical such as earth or fire. While a fire sword sounded nice you would have to immerse the weapon in fire for it to draw enough constant magic to be of use. There were other ways for him to charge the weapons with the needed magical element but that would be to drain his own personal stores.

While the weapon was nice and would be a nice addition to his own stores of magical items it also brought something new to mind. The creatures had the ability to use magic. He hadn’t personally seen them use magic before but this weapon was proof of that fact.

Thad sat down hard on the ground. It was unsettling to know that he might have to face others with magical powers. He had known from Crusher that the dwarfs had their own unique magical powers and had seen it first hand from the presence of his tattoos, but the knowledge that others might as well hit him hard. He had searched for years for any knowledge of magic users of the past and now there was a chance he would have to face another mage. While it wouldn’t be a human mage the fact that he might have to face another magic user was intimidating. He only had his own knowledge and experience to fall back on where his opponent would have the collective history and knowledge of all their magic users at their command.

Thad turned on his magical eye and watched the female creature. She was currently at what he believed was her house. It was a somber looking place though it was surrounded by hundreds of others of her kind. Thad still had trouble telling everything that was going on but from what he could tell she was very important in the house but she wasn’t the highest rank within its walls.

Normally he simply watched the creatures through the magical eye but now he was looking at any hint of magical power around them. He didn’t find anything obvious but then again all he could do was see he couldn’t even send his power through the object to look around with his magical sense. It was frustrating every day he found more questions and the answers were close, yet just outside of his reach.

Thad spent hours watching the creatures in the mirror as he held the magical sword in his hand, as if he was willing them to cede to his commands. The hours of watching gained him nothing and all he was left with was the urge for knowledge denied him. Frustrated, Thad lay down to sleep. His rest wasn’t peaceful, as it was filled with the same questions that plagued his waking hours.

CHAPTER XIV

Everything around him was dark and Thad found himself floating in the darkness. It was vaguely familiar almost like the time he had been held prisoner by the Ablaians but there was a slightly different feel to it. Thad called a light to his hand and it sprung forth as easy as if he had been awake.

“So you’re the one who has been watching us.” A voice said in his mind. Well saying it was a voice was stretching it a bit. It was more like the thoughts formed in his mind but felt different than his own much the way it felt when his staff forced images upon him.

“What is a human mage doing within our domain?” The voice said giving Thad the feeling of curiosity more than anger.

“Got lost and some of your creatures attacked me I’m just returning the favor.” Thad said aloud to the darkness surrounding him.

“So you’re the one who has been killing our troops in the northern mines. From my reports the weapons used led us to believe at least one of the attackers were dwarven. I can understand some of our troops can be less than pleasant but is that any reason to go on a slaughtering spree. I am sure that if you would simply sit down for a good discussion we can come to an agreement that is beneficial to both of us.”

The creature’s words seemed reassuring and compelling. Why was he fighting them anyway? A picture of Crusher popped into his mind making Thad nearly laugh. Even in his sleep his staff was there to help. Shaking the fog from his mind he regained his composure. It was obvious to him that whoever was present within his mind had been trying to compel him to think as it wanted him to.

Stretching out his hand Thad’s staff appeared in his hand. “I don’t know who you are, but if you think trying to force me to do as you wish will work you’re mistaken.”

The air around him twisted and shimmered as the darkness seemed to begin to form into something more substantial. Right before his eyes where once there had been nothing now stood a tall dark form. It was slightly taller than him with a bald head and large black eyes. He knew it was one of the creatures but different than one he had encountered before.

The creature looked him over but his eyes lingered for the longest on the staff he now held in his hands. “That is a fine staff. Very powerful though I never did much care for magical items that had their own minds, it makes them so much harder to use. Did you make it yourself? You humans were always quite skilled at such endeavors.” The creature said as it reached his hand toward the staff. Each of the creatures long boney fingers were covered in rings and Thad could tell that each was magical in nature but didn’t have time to study their function.

“I’ll ask again who or what are you?” Thad said moving his staff from the reach of the creature in front of him.

“It seems that your history has washed all knowledge of us out with the passing of time. We are the Vathari. Once, before your human king decided we no longer deserved to be among humans, we had a good relationship with your kind. Many of your human mages would travel to find one of our hidden cities to train and obtain our unique power though few ever accomplished such a feat. If you wished you could follow in the footsteps of your ancestors and walk that path once again.”

Thad had to hide his excitement. He had looked for information of the knowledge lost in the Fae Wars and now it was being offered to him freely. A picture of Crusher once again was forced into his thoughts by his staff. Shaking his head he remembered it wouldn’t be free. If he was to walk that path he would have to leave his friend behind.

The fact that he was even contemplating the idea made Thad sick at himself, but he couldn’t deny the allure of the chance being offered to him. In the end it was what was more important to him the knowledge he had been seeking or his friendship. It was an easy call in the end. Knowledge was always there and there was just as much chance he would find it in the dwarven homeland.

“I’m sorry but I can’t take you up on that offer as tempting as it is.” Thad said his voice betraying his own mixed feelings.

The creatures face twisted into an odd grin showing his sharp teeth. “Then good hunting human.”

Thad was surprised at the almost happy tone that reverberated through his mind. He had expected a different reaction; anger, disappointment, or outrage.

Seeing his confused expression the Vathari gave out a laugh that sounded almost human with a slightly darker undertone. “I see you don’t understand. I guess I could shine a light on your ignorance. We Vathari thrive on battle, in the past we used to start a war with the humans every few years, but for centuries we have been forced to seek out new entertainment. The dwarves are a hearty bunch and good at battle but without any diversity it does get a tad boring. Though I do wish there was more than just one of you, but we will take what we can get. In the morning you will find yourself submerged in my best warriors I hope you keep us entertained and should you live please do stop by and take me up on our offer. Nothing is more celebrated in our culture than a skilled warrior even one of our enemies.”

The Vathari disappeared leaving Thad alone with the information he had been given. The option to visit their city was still open but only if he lived through the coming battles. It sounded easy at first but so far they had chosen where and when the battles would take place. It didn’t seem like the Vathari would allow that to continue for much longer.

As soon as his eyes opened Thad was on his feet and off to where Crusher slept. The dwarf didn’t wake easily and Thad to finally hit him over the head with the flat of his sword before he opened his eyes.

After a bit of silent grumbling from his friend, Thad tried to explain what had happened. After a few illusions where he and one of the creatures talking Crusher began to understand the implication of what Thad was trying to tell him.

Thad wasn’t sure what reaction Crusher would have but instead of flying off the handle he merely grumbled a bit and pulled out a white rock and began drawing plans on the large map on the far wall.

After scratching at the wall for a bit Crusher began pacing back and forth running his hands on the top of his bald head. Thad found it more than slightly entertaining to watch the dwarf as he tried to decide their next move. The dwarf looked excited and agitated at the same time. Thad had to admit to feeling a bit of excitement himself. It was obvious from his discussion with the creature that the dwarves and the Vathari had an ongoing fight for thousands of years. It didn’t seem to be out of hatred on the Vatharis side but just out of a need to test themselves in battle.

While the dwarf made his plans, Thad began making plans of his own. He had trained in warfare tactics but he had never had to do so in a maze of tunnels where he was as lost as a blind man trying to find a lone apple tree in an open plain. Thad had other strengths though; he had his magic, and enchanting skill. From what the creature had said it wouldn’t just be normal soldiers they would face but other mages as well and that meant he had a lot of things to figure out.

Thad wasn’t sure what would be handy other than his sword that cut through magic but he had a few ideas. Pulling the pack over that was filled with gems for either his work or for Avalanche to snack on and a bar of the ultra-light metal from the wall Thad set to work.

The first thing on his mind was a shield. So far his magical shield was only designed to block physical attacks and from his own experiments it had too many weaknesses that could be exploited by a magic user. He had never had a reason before to worry about such a fact but now a lot of things had changed.

It wasn’t easy to devise a shield to block against other magic users since magic wasn’t cut and dry. If one was skilled enough one could cast a spell inside his shield so he had to find a way to block out magical energies but if he did that he wouldn’t have accesses to any source of magic himself. From what he had seen most of the magic that the Vathari used was that of the darkness element. He could make a shield that only blocked out a specific elemental source but it would have to be as strong as the element being used and that would have to be earth magic in his current environment.

Earth magic was good for many things and could be bent and twisted to perform great feats but it wasn’t the best source to use for a shield. His rings could use any form of stored magical energy but they had a limit and the more they were taxed the quicker they would run out. An unchallenged shield could be sustained for hours while one that was constantly in use would only last for a quarter of that time.

It was a plausible idea but it still didn’t completely solve the problem. There was no guarantee that he would never face another mage. He had just taken for granted that no other mages had been announced in the past thousand years and from what he learned that didn’t mean they had completely vanished. There were other lands and other creatures hidden away from sight. How many more were there out there. Thad didn’t have an inflated ego enough to believe he had seen everything the world had to offer, in truth he would be surprised if he had witnessed even one percent of what was out there.

Thad continued to think through his options as Crusher continued his frantic pacing. Avalanche thinking it was a game jumped around the dwarf. There had to be a way to block out magic. In all the history of magic there had to be mages who dueled against each other and if there was no way to block an attack the first one to strike would almost always win.

Thad began to look at the problem in a different light. What was magic? It was a being forcing his will on the already present magical flow of energies that made up the world surrounding them. The flows differed greatly depending on where one was at. The more a person was attuned to the natural flows in the area the better that person could draw and use those energies. If he could disrupt those flows and make them mimic something he was more attuned to he could lessen his foes ability while strengthening his own. But how could he do that? He knew that to perform a spell of that magnitude would leave him desolate so an enchantment was the only way. The only real problem was how an enchantment would need to work in order to perform what he wanted.

It would be simple enough for him to create a hotspot of magical energy of whatever element he needed. He already had that hanging around his neck, but it didn’t change the overall flow of magical energies natural to the environment around them. On the other hand Avalanche did. He remembered when he had first studied the amazing creature. She not only bent the earth energy to her she put off a vast amount of it herself effectively changing the natural flow of energy. Wherever the lines for that energy flowed it altered its course to run parallel to hers.

Now while he was sure that would throw off any casters ability to draw on the earth energy effectively, as he knew it did his until he had learned to compensate for her, it didn’t affect the other major source of magic in the subterranean the darkness element.

If he could mimic the effect Avalanche created naturally he could weaken any mage he came up against. He had already studied the rock animal thoroughly during their time together and understood how she created the effect, but he didn’t know how to reproduce it. He would not only have to draw in a massive amount of magical energy into one place it would also have to radiate the same amount of force. If he made such an enchantment the gem that worked as the core wouldn’t last for more than a quarter of an hour before it ruptured. It would simply be too much force coursing through it, but he didn’t really need it to last longer and if he made sure to get it closer to the enemy mage when it did go it could double as a weapon.

With no other idea Thad started making one out of a small gem to test. It had to be big enough to make a change in the magical forces but not so large it risked destroying anything within their small living area. It was a hard thing to pull off but he had it finished long before Crusher had figured out their next move.

Not wanting to disturb his friend Thad moved into the small section he had claimed for his room. Triggering the enchantment Thad put up a shield around the second half of the room. While magic was hard to block the direct effects of it still worked in the physical realm.

Watching the gem with magical sense Thad could see that even though it was small and the amount of magic it pulled in and pushed out was minimal it still changed the general flow of elemental energies. It wasn’t a massive change but even a small one could hamper how well a mage could access the magic around him.

Within a few heartbeats the small gem had stressed itself too much and began to glow like a piece of metal straight from the forge. In the span of a few heartbeats the gem ruptured, sending small bits of itself flying through the room. The explosion itself was much smaller than Thad had expected but still watching with his magical sight the backlash from the gem exploding caused a magical ripple within the elemental energies nearly making his own shield spell falter for a brief moment before he readjusted.

Even ready for the change Thad still had trouble keeping a steady flow of magic. It was both good and bad if the fight lasted long enough for the larger version of the enchantment to go then there was a good chance that everyone’s magic would simply fail them until the elemental flows fixed themselves. That would mean he would have to rely on his rings, rune necklace, and staff that had stored magical energy.

That meant that he should only use his magical disruptor if he found himself in a dire situation. That made it much easier on him in the long run, it wouldn’t be much larger than the test model as it would have to fail quickly if he was in dire straits but with more power than it currently had.

Moving back to the common room of the caves Thad found Crusher staring at the map tracing some of the smaller tunnels with his chubby finger. When he would get to one of their designated encounter sights he would stop and began tapping on the open area. Thad wasn’t sure what he was doing but if he had to make a guess the dwarf was playing out how the battle might play out using different tactics. He had done the same thing during his strategic tests back in the Slave Academy. It had worked well for him but the instructors always threw something in at the last moment that he had never planned for.

Sitting down with more of the gems and metal Thad went to work knowing that soon anything could happen and he wanted to be as prepared as he could make himself. It wasn’t easy to do since he had no clue what would be coming at him. The best he could do was to use his imagination to conjure up the worst things he could imagine and try to plan for it.

Thad worked late into the night. Avalanche had tired of her game of bouncing around the stout dwarf and had long ago lay down next to him snorting every so often as the dwarf stomped his foot in frustration. Thad’s stores of energy were quickly draining and he knew that soon he would have to find sleep or he would be less than useless in the next battle.

With a heavy sigh Thad left Crusher to his endless pondering and headed back to his own room to get what sleep was left to him. The one bright side to living in the vast darkness was that there was no sun to herald the coming of the day. He only hoped the enemy left them alone long enough to prepare for their next battle.

CHAPTER XV

The three companions stalked the halls carefully making their way to their ambush site. It wasn’t as good as the one they had used the day before but Crusher didn’t seem to want to overuse the same place too often. Thad’s slugs had all recharged, but the rings he used to call them back were only at half strength. While he could fire all his slugs he could only call half that number back to him. In a pinch they could work but having to remake the slugs would be more trouble than it would be worth unless absolutely necessary.

When they finally arrived at their station Thad found that they were located in a small tunnel entrance that melded well with the adjoining wall. It didn’t look natural, the corners were too well shaped and looked as if they had been cut. That wasn’t too surprising. Many of the tunnels that they had been traveling in had looked as if they had been cut away rather than natural occurrences.

The cavern that the tunnel led to was fairly large easily large, easily enough to fit the queen’s ballroom inside. The groups of soldiers were in smaller groups but they were much more closely packed together. There was little chance to simply attack and loot the bodies as they had been doing before anyone came to investigate. That meant that they would have to have an escape route picked in advance. From what Crusher had indicated they would leave the same way they had arrived. It wasn’t a bad idea but Thad wished they had a signal to dictate when they would leave.

Only eight enemy soldiers were in the cavern and they were separated into two groups of four each located at the larger entrances. From what he had seen on their way to their ambush site that meant that other groups were positioned outside in the adjoining tunnels to quickly join the battle once it was engaged.

There was still the small chance for them to strike and run if they could take out all eight before they could warn the others. It was a very small chance. Thad didn’t have a spell that could take them all out at once. The best he could accomplish was one group of four and that was only if everything happened perfectly and that rarely happened with magic at least where he was concerned.

They started the battle the same way as the previous one with Thad using his magical slugs. The slug flew from his hand whistling through the still air toward the tightly packed enemies. Thad hoped it would catch more than one of the beasts but his prayers went unanswered as it caught only one of the creatures in the chest before lodging itself in the rock beyond.

Unlike last time where the Vathari had only searched for the offender this time one of the creatures pulled a small horn from a pouch on his side. Thad had seen the horn before as many of them now resided within the loot chamber back at their base.

Once the small horn was lifted to the Vathari’s lips a loud high-pitched whine rang throughout the cavern. It was much louder than Thad would have figured for such a small item. Shortly after the horn was blown many more horns went off in the distance and Thad could hear the sound of heavy footsteps moving in their direction. The sound was so loud it was as if a mountain itself was falling down around their ears.

Within moments the cavern was filled with enemy soldiers. The sheer number of them made Thad’s legs go weak. He was so mesmerized that he didn’t notice Crusher trying to get his attention until the dwarf hit him hard on the shoulder with his balled fist nearly knocking him into the wall.

Thad hit the dwarf back, but only accomplished in hurting his own hand. After a few moments of rubbing his hand he turned to the dwarf who was tensed against the wall his axe in his hand. It was obvious the dwarf planned to take out a few of the Vathari the old fashioned way before they made their exit.

Thad pulled the darkness sword from its scabbard and prepared for the coming fight. Looking at his friend he knew what he wanted him to do and he had to agree. It was the perfect time to use some of the traps that were laid around the room. Calling his staff to his hand Thad focused and found the three traps that were hidden within his mental reach.

Two of the traps were lightning based while the other was based on light. All three had plenty of time to gather magic and all three had been able to get fully charged. Thad was amazed at how enchantments could use any magical source and reform it to their own desire while he could only pull from what was around him. With the help of his staff Thad could do much the same as the enchantments but like a moneychanger it took more from him than he got in return.

The traps went off at the same time sending arcs of lightning throughout the room as well as small beams of light that cut through anything they came into contact with. One of the beams came eerily close to where they hid cutting a thick line into the rock above Crusher’s head.

Not wanting to waste a good chance Thad readied one of his new enchantments. It looked like a large version of one of his slugs but it had a completely different function. Tossing the ball into the middle of the room he activated the enchantment on it and suddenly the room was bathed in a bright light. Usually Thad used one of his light rings to produce the light needed to fight by but it had a limited range. This way the whole cavern was illuminated and as an added bonus when it was time to leave Thad had created a second enchantment to send out a ball of fire that would if it worked correctly destroy the first gem causing an explosion aiding in their escape. It hadn’t been tested so Thad could only hope that it worked as planned.

The second the traps had expended their magic Thad and Crusher rushed into the room taking down any enemy that was nearby. Thad focused his attention in the direction of the traps in an effort to collect them so that they could be used again if needed. The first trap was easy to locate and get to as it had cut large circular holes in the rock around it. Scooping up the trap Thad hastily threw it in his pack as he came around to face his first enemy.

The traps had worked wonders and many of the soldiers that had littered the cavern were now in disarray. It hadn’t killed as many as he had hoped but the ones left standing were easily unnerved from the immense display of magic that had cut down their comrades.

His first enemy was still slightly disoriented and had a black scorched mark in the center of his breastplate. It was obvious from the way the Vathari looked and moved that he had been hit by the lightning trap though it seemed he had only caught a weak strike of lightning. The creatures slowed movements made it easy for Thad to knock away his offered sword and score a hit on the Vathari midsection. His new sword passed through the creature as if it was simply cutting through the air. If not for the blood that rushed from the new wound Thad would have thought he had missed his mark.

Giving a low whistle at the effectiveness of his new weapon Thad rushed on toward where the second trap had been hidden. He met two other enemies blocking his way not having to hold back anymore stretched out his arm and sent a thick stream of fire engulfing the two Vathari. Thad rushed past the two creatures as they screamed in the final throws of death and quickly grabbed up his prize.

Turning around Thad was faced with ever growing numbers of Vathari as they rushed in from every tunnel opening. Thad raised his staff and sent three thick bolts of lightning at the largest tunnel opening striking the roof above it. When nothing happened Thad continued the barrage. After two more strikes the rocks began to lose their hold and collapsed upon their own weight barring the entrance and killing three unsuspecting Vathari.

Before he had another chance to do anymore damage with his magic Thad found himself engaged by four large Vathari warriors. With what little time he had Thad looked around and noticed that all of the smaller Vathari had disappeared from the cavern. He wasn’t sure what that meant and wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

The larger Vathari were skilled swordsman and Thad found himself on constant defense. Thad tried to get in a few attacks but everything he tried was easily blocked by the warriors. Thad knew he couldn’t sit there and wait for more of the Vathari to show up so looking around to make sure neither Crusher nor Avalanche was close to him he activated his paralyzing ring. It was a onetime use item and would take days before it could be used again but it had worked and every creature within a fifty foot radius was stopped in motion. That included the four warriors who were attacking him as well as two others who were coming to their aid.

Even though he was in the middle of a battle it felt wrong to Thad to kill a defenseless warrior but he had no time for such sentimentality. With only a small twang of guilt running through his mind Thad went through and methodically cut the throats of the frozen warriors. Shortly after he was finished Thad looked to his companions.

Avalanche was doing well and seemed to be having little trouble despite the large number of Vathari that surrounded her. Their weapons struck again and again but they found no flesh to bite and Thad figured they wouldn’t unless one of them happened to carry one made of magic and even then it would be a tough battle.

Crusher wasn’t fairing as well. Over a dozen Vathari were attacking him and while many lay at his feet there was no way that the stout dwarf would hold out long without some assistance. Thad was sure that if it had not been for the magical shield that still surrounded him the dwarf would have already fallen prey to one of the enemy’s blades. As it was the shield was beginning to wane and wouldn’t last for very long.

After looking around for a few moments Thad noticed a perfect chance to help his friend. Focusing on the weapons that the Vathari held in their hands. Suddenly the weapons began to glow a bright red as they heated to immense temperatures. The Vathari dropped the superheated weapons and Crusher took the chance to quickly cut them down. Once his bloody work was done Crusher gave Thad a quick smile then headed off to find his next target.

Taking a hint from Crusher Thad looked around for his next target. It was obvious a lot of the Vathari were hanging out of the battle but Thad didn’t understand why until he began looking around to where they were standing. A group of Vathari warriors were blocking off every exit to the cavern including the hidden one they had come through. They weren’t simply waiting, they were trapping the three until something came. What they were waiting on Thad didn’t know and was more than a little worried to find out. Noticing that he was unchallenged a few of the warriors broke from where they were guarding and engaged him. It was an obvious tactic to keep him busy until something or someone arrived but under the current conditions he had little choice in the matter.

Shrugging his shoulders Thad lifted his sword and moved to meet the two Vathari that moved toward him. The first warrior raised his sword in a standard attack. Thad knew that the second he bested these two more would come to keep him busy so he decided to play along for awhile. Lifting his sword Thad parried the sword as it came in a downward arc then turned on his lead leg and struck his second attacker with the head of his staff adding a small blast of energy throwing the Vathari to the ground.

Seeing what had happened to his companion the first Vathari moved back and kept his distance circling Thad and protecting his counterpart. Thad not wanting to waste his momentum pressed the attack alternating strikes with his sword and staff. The two warriors were skilled but they were scared and that showed in every movement. Their movements were hesitant and their eyes stayed focused on the staff that he held in his left hand and they avoided it instead of parrying it when he chose to use it in an attack.

Thad heard some of the Vathari shouting in the corner and the warriors in front of him redoubled their efforts. None of their attacks were killing blows but merely meant to keep him busy. He had spent hours sparring with the queen’s guard and they had used the same tactic so they could measure his strengths and comment on his weaknesses later. It could only mean one thing that whatever they were waiting on was nearby and they weren’t willing to take any risks with their lives.

A bad feeling filled his gut so he decided it was time to leave. Thad launched a quick attack with his staff forcing the two warriors to jump back then he hit them with a bolt of lightning sending both of them to the ground. One of them was lucky enough to survive his attack but it didn’t seem as if it had the strength to continue the fight.

Thad gave out a high whistle grabbing the attention of both Crusher and Avalanche and pointed toward the exit. Avalanche didn’t understand the motion but none the less she bounded away from the Vathari she was playing with and toward the ones who were blocking their way out. Crusher didn’t look too happy but quickly cut down the last one facing him and followed behind Thad as he rushed toward the guarded tunnel.

There were a least ten Vathari guarding the tunnel and the noise from behind him confirmed that the others were coming to join the fight meaning they didn’t have the time to play around. Stretching his staff toward where Avalanche fought Thad let loose a roaring ball of fire forcing the Vathari to jump aside or risk being burnt to a crisp. Two of the warriors and Avalanche were unable to get out of the way in time and the fireball slammed into them hard. Avalanche looked no worse but the other two weren’t as lucky as they looked as if they had spent hours in a large funeral pyre.

Thad jumped over the burned men and continued on only hoping that his friends were close behind. Once he was a safe distance away Thad risked a glance over his shoulder to see that Crusher and Avalanche were close on his heels as were a large number of the Vathari warriors.

Thad stopped in his tracks letting his two friends pass him. Crusher gave him a sideways glance but Thad simply smiled at him, giving him a sly wink as he passed. As soon as they were out of the way Thad let go of a huge torrent of magic that had been building in his staff since he had first started his mad dash for the tunnel. He had little control over the form of the magic as the staff was using him to release the magic in the same way he often used it to direct his.

A large version of Avalanche filled the tunnel in front of him. It didn’t make noise and a slight aura or purple blazed around it. The Vathari didn’t turn and run until the magical beast reached the first in the line of warriors and they fell to the ground their skin simply torn away wherever the magical creature touched. Noticing the horrible death that faced them, the others broke rank and began trampling each other in order to get out of the tunnel.

Thad didn’t wait to see how the Vathari faired in their flight but instead took up his own running with all his might to catch up to his companions. It didn’t take long for him to find Crusher and Avalanche who had stopped after a turn in the tunnel to wait for him. Thad was slightly relived as he wasn’t sure that he could find his way through the twisting darkness that was the subterranean real without Crusher’s help.

The way back to their base was slow as they had to stop and wait frequently for parties of roving Vathari. When they finally got back to their rooms the three friends collapsed and began laughing. It had been a hard fight and strangely entertaining. They hadn’t received any wounds and had taken out a large amount of the Vathari forces. It wasn’t even a scratch on their overall forces if the amount in the halls was any indication but it was still a victory in his eyes.

As was his ritual after a fight Crusher started cleaning his axe and sharpening its blade. Avalanche didn’t seem to care much for anything other than lounging around. Thad himself was tired with his magical and physical energy spent he decided it was time to take a rest and try and recoup what energy he could.

CHAPTER XVI

Thad found himself floating in the darkness again. He knew that his Vathari friend was probably visiting him again. He wasn’t sure how the Vathari mage was contacting him but he was more than slightly curious on that matter. If he could learn how to do it he might just be able to communicate with the princess and his other friends to see how they were doing.

“I see you were able to escape before you got to see the surprise today. Such a shame after I went through all the trouble to set it up for you. Sadly we had one of the surprises for you in the cavern but your impressive little magical toys seemed to have gotten him while his guard was down. I must say it was a magnificent use of magic there at the end. Some of the things you humans think up are so astounding. I have read stories in our histories of such things but it is unique to hear and see firsthand accounts.”

“You were watching the battle?” Thad asked slightly astounded.

The Vathari let one of its guttural laughs. “Yes, I didn’t see the beginning but once the connection with Fareth was lost I decided to take a peek myself. And we found one of your magical toys to bring back. We had the other but it destroyed itself along with a few of my warriors. I must admit that was brilliant. It has the soldiers carrying the other quite worried it will do the same even after the mage traveling with them has assured them it will not.”

“So do you have names, if so, would you be so kind as to grace me with yours? It will make it much easier to talk with you.” Thad said trying to hide his anger that they had gotten his other trap. He had completely forgotten about it with everything going on.

The creature in front of him gave a low bow as a smile spread across his face. “Forgive my rudeness. I must admit in my own arrogance I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Sae-Thae the chief mage of the Tralath Clan. Now may I have your name?”

Thad mimicked Sae-Thae’s bow. “I am Thaddeus a humble slave to the Princess of Farlan.”

“A slave? Have the human mages fallen so far over the years as to become mere slaves?” Sae-Thae said with a bit more humor in his voice than Thad thought was needed.

“I am the only human mage that I know of. It is a lost art thanks to the Fae War.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth Thad almost cursed himself. He had given the Vathari more information than he had intended.

“Ah, yes. We have a record of that in our archives. That war and the Brotherhood devastated many of the weaker non-human races. While we are all for a good battle we have learned there is little to gain from killing off other species. From your ignorance of our kind I’m guessing even the knowledge of the other races has been wiped from your histories.”

With every sentence Thad’s view of the Vathari changed. At first he had considered them just bloodthirsty killers, but now he had to admit that they simply just seemed to be a society bred to fight. It wasn’t a large difference but there was a difference. Not only were they intelligent they could also reason and seemed to have a vast amount of knowledge at their disposal.

“Yes, most knowledge of magic and other races has been turned into mere stories of legend. Until recently, I didn’t even know that other races really existed. I must admit it has been quite a shock.”

“It is a sad event when history is lost, it is something that is hard to regain. Seeing a human mage I had hoped your people had regained its strength. As an award for your skill today in battle I will let you in on a bit of information. The Brotherhood of the Fox is still active. Every so many years they make a foray into the darkness in an attempt to find one of our cities. We kill them off quickly but they are skilled opponents and while they don’t pose a huge threat here in the subterranean, they limit our ability to interact with the surface.”

Thad was confused at the information. It made sense and would explain why there haven’t been any other mages in the past years. If the Brotherhood still roamed the land extinguishing any hint of magic from the records then everyone would think it was something lost to the world of men forever. What Thad didn’t understand was why Sae-Thae was telling him.

“It sounds as if you want me to survive.”

“Oh, but I do young human. If it were in my power I would pull back all the soldiers and let you walk unmolested to the dwarves. The only problem is it is not up to me. If I even hinted at that with the other heads I would soon find myself replaced. I must say you have Telerem mad at how you have torn through his regular soldiers and Luras is still hopeful to get a few of her own troops in the battle.” Sae-Thae said with a look that reminded Thad of when the queen was more talking to herself than those around her.

“Then maybe you could help me out so that we have a better chance of surviving.” Thad kept his voice calm but he was sure the Vathari sensed his emotional state rather than having to read it from his perceived face.

Sae-Thae didn’t respond but simply stared at him contemplatively for a few moments. Then the Vathari mage waved his hand and the area changed from swirling darkness into a room that while oddly decorated was somewhat indicative of what he had thought a mage’s room looked like in his imagination.

The room was well lit, though he wasn’t sure if that was natural of if the Vathari was doing that merely for his benefit. The furniture was all of a unique design and most of it looked as if it had been artfully designed. Everything was made of a dark stone.

“Now there are things I will be unwilling to aid you with, but I see no problem with helping to make this a bit more interesting. How would you like to start?” Sae-Thae said as he waved for Thad to take a seat across from him.

Thad scooted the chair back studying the chair. The legs of the chair had been carved to look like the feet of some creature and the back of the chair had an artful design that looked as if an array of weapons had been thrown in a pile. The seat of the chair had been covered with some kind of animal skin. Sitting down Thad found that it was extremely comfortable, something one wouldn’t expect from a chair made of stone.

“First could we start with how you are doing this?” Thad said as he waived his hand above his head getting a small chuckle from Sae-Thae.

“You haven’t been checking the magical eye that made its way to our city have you? Enchanting is such a unique art. Did you know that if the same enchantment is made by two different people it will not be the same? Whenever someone enchants an item to respond to magic they are fundamentally implanting a small part of themselves in the core.”

Sae-Thae stopped for a bit either waiting on Thad to respond or to let the information sink in. Thad wasn’t sure which one so he simply nodded his head and waited for the mage to continue.

The Vathari made a gesture with his hand and his magical eye appeared in his hand. A small visible line ran from the magical eye to Thad’s chest. “Whenever someone creates such an item there is always a small connection left behind that can be used to trace back to the creator.”

The fear that crept through Thad’s face must have shown clearly on his face for Sae-Thae’s started laughing. “I wouldn’t worry too much it can’t be used to harm you. Other than allowing me to talk to you in this manner there isn’t much that can be done with it. Even for this I have to use another special enchanted item that cost me dearly to obtain. Now one could use this to locate you but from this distance I can only get a general idea of where you are, but at closer range it can be quite effective. Though seeing as to our current relationship you don’t have worry overly about me giving too much information away. Now your other toy that is being brought back by our troops will most likely be used to that nature by some of my colleagues.”

“Do the Vathari have many mages?”

“We are allowed to have two hundred mages at any given time. One head, four arch mages, twenty five master mages, and the rest can be any grouping of the lesser mages. I never understood the titles myself. It is not as if the title enhances or diminishes one’s ability. It only restricts what the access is to our knowledge. There have been many points in our history where a mage that never made it over the title of junior mage was far more accomplished than his brethren but was held back due to simple jealously and lack of political power.” Sae-Thae said his voice slightly annoyed.

“You are allowed?” Thad asked completely engrossed in the slivers of information he was getting.

“Ah, I forgot your history has been tampered with. So I shall give you some background information to help you understand us. Thousands of years before the time you call the Fae Wars the Vathari were one people and we had a king who had a vision of conquering all the land. For centuries we bolstered our numbers and began our war. We were bred and trained from birth to fight and soon we held the entire realm under our control. For four hundred years we reined, but there was a flaw in our plan. With the world subjugated, there was no one left to fight to slake our thirst for battle.”

“At first there were dissenters among the slaves who would challenge us but even that ended over time. After a few centuries of boredom our top generals started to turn on each other. It was a bloody time but we nearly drove ourselves to extinction.” Sae-Thae shook his head derisively.

“The other races took the chance to band together and force our race into the depths of the earth to hide and lick our wounds. It took decades for us to regain even a semblance of our former strength and in that time we had learned from our mistake. It was agreed that we would limit our numbers, and set conditions for a new settlement to be created. If any group of Vathari went against our laws all of us would rise up together for only as long as it would take to destroy them.”

“So your own peoples thirst for battle nearly killed off your entire race so now you limit your populations?” Thad asked not fully understanding what Sae-Thae was trying to say.

“That is a large portion of it, but there are also numerous other Vathari settlements in the subterranean. I couldn’t even guess to the numbers that live within the tunnels. It is possible that our numbers are far greater than what they were in the past, but it is forbidden that any two Vathari settlements to work together. We fight amongst ourselves more often than we fight against the other races. We are forbidden to completely destroy another race but it is fully within our right to destroy any other Vathari we come across.”

Thad sat and digested what he had learned. It was somewhat amazing that the Vathari had such a history. The humans seldom seemed to learn from their own history. Just look at his homeland Farlan. They had started a system of government to keep from repeating the failures of the past but over time had forgotten their original goal and had fallen into the habits they had sought to leave behind.

All the information, were things he wanted to know, but none of it really helped his current situation. As the Vathari went on about their history Thad began to think what information might actually be useful to him. Nothing really came to mind other than where they were the strongest and he doubted the mage would divulge such information.

“It’s not that I’m not enjoying what I’m learning, and if possible I would like to hear more in the future. But what I really need is information that can help keep me alive long enough to make it back to my own home.” Thad said hesitantly afraid to offend his new friend.

Sae-Thae stopped speaking and tilted his head slightly with a blank look on his face. “Sorry, I do tend to ramble on, and shortly I will have to take a break. While you’re asleep I am awake and the magical reservoirs of the enchantment will run out far before you wake. There isn’t much I can tell you that will be of use. Our more skilled troops are headed in your direction, along with some of our priests. If you see a warrior with a glowing tattoo be wary and any of the Vathari wearing robes should not be taken lightly that will either be one of our priests or one of my mages. Normally I would feel bad about giving out such knowledge but it has been far too long since they have fought against a mage outside of their own. The dwarves have mages and such but just as our own they are limited on their use of magic.”

“What do you mean they are limited in their use of magic?”

“I must admit the loss of your history is becoming quite annoying. I do hope you humans are able to destroy the blight of the Brotherhood and begin to regain your past. Each race has an element that it is linked to with the exception of the humans. Dwarves are linked to the earth, Vathari are linked to the darkness and so on. There is no Vathari that can draw from the earth elemental. Likewise our enchantments are limited in the same way. That is one of the reasons humans were always a worthy foe they were the embodiment of chaos. While we are slaves to our gods you are free of all chains except the ones you decided to burden yourselves with.”

“You have gods?” Thad asked shock clearly evident in his voice and on his face.

“I believe I might have said too much there, but it has been so long since any of our race has talked to one of yours. Be that as it may, I will have to leave you for the night it seems our time is up and I do have many other things to do this day. Good hunting human, may your blade find the flesh of your enemies’ before theirs find yours.”

Sae-Thae disappeared along with the room around him in a flash leaving Thad alone within the recesses of his own mind. Last time after his visit with the Vathari he had woken up right afterword but now he simply floated in his own mind. This time he was left simply floating in the darkness with nothing around.

Sae-Thae had been able change the surrounding easily so Thad wondered if he could do the same. Fixing the picture of his room back in the palace Thad waved his hand and suddenly he was surrounded by the familiar sights he had been missing. The only thing better would have been if the princess was there to tease him.

Sitting down on the corner of the bed Thad started to think about what he had learned during his meeting with the Vathari. Most of it was useless in a battle but still very interesting. The fact that they were limited to using the darkness element was something he was sure he could use to his advantage though at the moment he was unsure of how.

There was one thing he knew if he only had to protect against magic made with the darkness element that would still leave him with a great deal of room to work. He still had no idea how to make a shield to block magical effect but it was something to work on.

Sitting on the bed he began to think about the different way to counteract magic that might be used against him when what he was truly doing hit him. He was sitting in his own dream working. It was slightly disturbing but also useful at the same time. If he could learn to do this at will then when he was pressed for time he could work even while he slept. It wasn’t perfect as there might be some carryover from his subconscious mind into the effects of his magic but it still left him room to contemplate.

Kicking back on the bed Thad started running through ideas that might be useful against a mage or priest. Though he was still unsure of how a priest differed from a mage he hoped that their magic could be countered in the same way.

CHAPTER XVII

Thad and Crusher had stayed in their base for over two days planning out their next attack. At night when he slept Thad had hoped for another meeting with Sae-Thae but it had not come. He had also tried and failed to enter his own dream world both nights. On what little time he wasn’t working on enchantments or tying new spells Thad looked through his magical eyes.

The Vathari had become more active and had begun to actively search for them. He had also noticed a few of the robed Vathari walking around. It was hard to notice them but there was a subtle heat change depending on where their clothing rubbed against their skin. The weapons they carried had also begun to vary, and he had noticed something that he hadn’t before. Some weapons had different heat signatures than others. Thad knew that some of that was caused by the metal the weapon was made of but for the drastic differences in some of them he could only guess that they were of magical in nature.

He couldn’t really prove his theory without tracking down one of the weapons and slaying its owner so he could study it at his leisure. It was a good idea but at the moment it seemed incredibly risky for such a small goal. He had his own weapons to check on but neither of them showed a huge change in their heat compared to the ones he was seeing through the magical eye.

The magic eye in the Vathari city was hung up in what he believed was Sae-Thae’s study. It had the same look as the one from his dream. It was even well lit with large books and scrolls strewn about in a disorderly fashion. It was more than a little surprising to see such a well-lit place deep in the underground. The other places he had seen had been lit but only dimly, barely allowing him to see more than the basic definition of the things around him without the use of his nightsight.

There hadn’t been a whole lot of activity in the magical eye hung up in Sae-Thae’s study but he had caught a few glimpses of the Vathari mage. The view of the room did allow him one advantage though. The magical eye was positioned so that he could easy see a book that was laid out on the mage’s table. It was written in standard and it detailed the events around the beginning of the Fae War. The first day he had read the page five times trying to commit the knowledge to memory. The second day when he had looked at it, the page had been changed. He wasn’t sure if Sae-Thae was doing it for his benefit but he could see no other reason to account for it.

Thad hadn’t spent all his time idle, while he waited for their next move he had come up with a few surprises of his own to use against the Vathari. Nothing overly complex but he had learned that simple had less of a chance of backfiring when he was messing with unknown elements. The only real problem was that all his weapons were based on the light element meaning that it took a lot longer for them to fully charge.

Thad was glad they were finally back in the tunnels. One could only stay cooped up for so long before it started to get to them. Not to mention they were beginning to run low on food. Crusher had tried to sneak out the day before to get some but the Vathari had been too thick for him to safely secure any food.

Today their outing was more out of need than anything. If they couldn’t secure food then soon they would find themselves in dire straits. They were moving under one of Thad’s new spells that put up a shield that mimicked the heat signatures of the rocks around them. It wasn’t perfect but unless the enemy was really looking they should be able to pass unnoticed.

Thus far the spell had worked great and they had even passed close enough to one group of Vathari that Thad was sure they could have taken them out easily before anyone was the wiser. He had resisted the urge but was more than curious to try it out soon to see if it would work.

It didn’t take long to reach the herd of weird creatures. The only problem was that they weren’t the only ones there. The Vathari had a small group of soldiers guarding the animals. It was obvious they had culled a few for their own use, as the herd was nearly half the size it had been on his last visit.

There were a little over a dozen enemies in the cavern with the animals and only a few of them were grouped together in more than pairs. Normally that would be good for them but now that meant that it made it nearly impossible to steal one of the creatures without being exposed. As close as some of the Vathari were coming to them Thad was happy that the new necklace around Avalanches neck allowed her to move around silently by absorbing the sound her movements made on the stone floor.

Crusher tapped Thad on the shoulder and pointed at Avalanche then at the Vathari and made a clamping motion with his hands. After Thad nodded his head Crusher pointed at Thad then moved his hand over his face then pointed at the other soldiers. The first motion was easy he wanted Avalanche to attack but the second one was a little harder to grasp. After a few seconds Thad started to get Crusher’s plan.

Getting Avalanche to attack was simple she was always ready for a little play. Bending down Thad slapped the side of her head and pointed at the two Vathari that stood at the farthest tunnel entrance away from where they stood. She took off like a horse making it hard for Thad to keep the camouflage shield up around her.

The second Avalanche bent down ready to jump Thad let the shield drop. He was rewarded with the surprised screams of the first Vathari to feel Avalanche’s sharp teeth. The other Vathari rushed to the aid of their comrade. Thad still had to keep the shield up for both him and Crusher as the dwarf moved off to get their food. It wasn’t easy but thanks to his staff it wasn’t impossible as he moved around to get in a few strikes on the unsuspecting Vathari warriors.

The strain from his continued spells was growing rapidly the farther away Crusher moved. Trying to focus on his own job as well as keeping the spells active Thad walked among the Vathari soldiers striking at any one of them that exposed a vital point. His strikes were timed and well-aimed, each one sending a Vathari to their death.

The sounds of battle echoed and were answered back by the sound of one of the enemy’s horns. The battle was short lived and ended before any reinforcements were able to arrive. Thad and Avalanche hid in a far corner until Crusher returned. Thad didn’t see any of the animals with him but there was blood on his axe. Thad figured that he had placed it in his bag though how the dwarf planned to get the blood out later he wasn’t sure.

The cavern was quickly filling up with Vathari who began to inspect the area making it hard for them to simply slip out even under the disguised shield. More than once an enemy came almost close enough to enter the shield. It wasn’t designed to keep out biological elements so if one of the Vathari stumbled into their small area they would be exposed.

Thad knew he could add a silencing effect much like he had done for Avalanche but his magical power had already been stressed and he was afraid that if he tried to add anything else the shield might fail, leaving them completely exposed.

There were a few tense moments but the soldiers in the cavern began to thin out as time passed. It wasn’t perfect as the Vathari in the outlining tunnels had also increased and were on high alert.

Even back at the entrance to their base there were numerous soldiers patrolling. They didn’t seem to be set in any set pattern so all the companions could really do was wait until the tunnel was clear enough for them to enter undetected. Avalanche didn’t seem to enjoy the extra activity around her and Thad could tell she was more than eager to start playing with the Vathari soldiers. Luckily Thad was able to keep her under control until the Vathari moved far enough away for them to slip into their base undetected. When the time came Thad didn’t take down the wall but instead made a hole just large enough for them to slip through.

Thad had thought that the number of troops was staggering a few days ago made life difficult but now it was getting outrageous. It seemed that no matter where they went there were at least ten soldiers spread out. Thad could tell that even Crusher was starting to doubt their current course of action.

Crusher wasted no time in emptying their prize onto the cave floor. There were five of the large sheep like creatures. The one thing Thad noticed was that none of the creatures were actually bleeding leaving Thad to wonder where the blood for Crusher’s axe had come from.

While Crusher dressed out the creatures Thad sat down and began to work on his new project. Today had been a test of sorts to see if the spell would work. The trouble was that the heat of the rocks changed depending on the area so he couldn’t simply make a blanket configuration for them.

Thad had trouble in the past with an enchantment that needed a complex design. He could make different cores for different heat signatures but changing them at need would be difficult. There had to be a way but how would the best way be to go about it.

Absorbed in his own thought he didn’t notice Crusher trying to get his attention. He wasn’t sure how long the dwarf had waited before slapping him in the back of the head but he doubted it had been overly long.

Once Crusher had his attention he skipped trying to pantomime what he wanted instead he pulled the young mage over to the wall where he had drawn the map of the local tunnels and caverns. Using a white rock he began to map out a route to an area that to Thad’s knowledge they had yet to go. At first Thad figured he was planning another attack until the dwarf started drawing small houses on the wall.

Thad was almost ecstatic they were finally going to head to the dwarven village. Thad had given up ever getting out of the caves alive. At first he had held out some hope but as the number of troops increased that had gone away. He hadn’t really lamented his pending death but now that there was some hope he felt a little lighter than he had in awhile.

They weren’t very far from the dwarven village only about three days even at a slow pace of travel two if they could move unmolested. Crusher agreed after a few moments of awkward discussion that their best bet would be for him to finish his enchantments first and let them fully charge before they tried their luck. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get them to work. Crusher was never the most patient of people and he was sure that if he didn’t have a working model within a few days they would be fighting their way through the tunnels.

It was slightly more pressure than he wanted but maybe it was the push he needed to help him jumpstart his thinking. Picking up a bar of the ever light metal and a sack of different sized gems Thad retired to his room to begin his work away from prying eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t like being around the dwarf when he was working but if he didn’t secure himself away the dwarf’s mumblings and Avalanches ever increasing nudging to play would distract him.

Once back in his room Thad put up one of the metal walls to block out everything but his own workspace. As usual he sat down in a comfortable position and began to try and mental work through the different ways he could create the enchantment to work the way he needed. He sat for hours but nothing seemed to come to mind that would work without being so complex it would take him days to create and even longer to charge.

Frustrated Thad flopped down on his bed roll and tried to relax. As he had the nights before he tried to fall asleep while he meditated. It was a lot harder to do than he had imagined. While he was relaxed when he meditated, his body and mind were on different levels. If today went like the ones before after a few hours Thad would simply drift out of meditation and fall asleep.

CHAPTER XVIII

When Thad opened his eyes he once again found himself floating in the sea of darkness. He waited to see if Sae-Thae was going to make an appearance. When nothing happened Thad waved his hand creating a nice space that was reminiscent of the workspace he had once had in his own house back at the capital. Thad wanted to celebrate his success but he knew that there was no telling how long he had before he woke and any time wasted, couldn’t be regained.

Oddly enough he found it impossible to sit still within his own mind. He was yearning for some fresh air so he waved his hand and his room disappeared and was replaced with the familiar sights and smells of Joan’s farm. The feel of the sun on his face was refreshing even if it was an illusion. It had been so long since he had felt the wind brush against his face that Thad wasn’t sure if he should waste his time on anything other than simply enjoying what time he had in the sunlight.

Thad quickly shook the thought from his head and sat where he could still feel the wind on his face as he began to work through his problem. There had to be a way to make it so that they could move with the disguised shield without him having to personally preform the spell.

He had run through numerous ideas following each on until he hit a dead end. Most of them were possible but the required time, energy and size made them impractical. It was frustrating it didn’t seem like it should be that hard. It was essentially just a thin shield with an illusionary layer over it. Why was it giving him so much trouble?

Picking up a nearby stick Thad started stabbing the ground lazily as he thought. The cool grass under his bare feet helped drain the tension away as he continued to come up with a solution to his problem. There was no way the camouflaged shield was more complicated than some of his other works. There had to be a way to make it work. His frustration building Thad threw the thin stick on the ground.

“Very nice, is this what the surface is like?”

Turning Thad found Sae-Thae hovering slightly over the grass. In the full sunlight the Vathari skin looked almost translucent. He was sure that if they went out in the full sunlight for long they would burn faster than oil soaked wood in a furnace.

“Good to see you Sae-Thae. I must admit I have missed your company as of late.” Thad said getting to his feet.

“I apologize for not meeting you sooner but I had business of my own to attend to. While I’m here may I ask what you were so intently thinking about?”

Thad let out a heavy sigh. “I have been trying to figure out how to get a spell of mine to work as an enchantment, but so far nothing I have come up with will work for what I need.”

Sae-Thae sat back and immediately one of the chairs from his study immediately appeared under him. “I myself do not have the skill to enchant, but I have studied it intently so that I can better understand the art. It does so intrigue me. The ability to takes one’s own spells and permanently graft them onto an inanimate object. I have only got to examine two of the items you have made thus far but I find them to be a bit crude and I doubt they will last more than a few years. The idea behind them is brilliant but you could have done so much more if you had better thought them out.”

Sae-Thae waved his hand and the magical eye Thad had made appeared in his hand. “Take this for example; you have three different cores, each one performing a unique function. This is much like I have seen on others items but you have severely limited it in its use. If you would have made it able to make the focus move, or if it could transfer sound, it would be much more useful. There are hundreds of little changes you could do to make it a truly magnificent piece. The same can be said of your lightning trap my men brought in. It does its job but that’s all it has, nothing to make it unique or truly valuable.”

Waving his hand again the magical eye disappeared and was replaced with Thad’s staff. “Now this is truly a magnificent item. I would send every one of my wizards to their death to obtain such a powerful artifact. The only downside is I would most likely have to fight the mage who acquired it to the death.”

Sae-Thae stood up from his chair and waved his hand and a small necklace popped into Thad’s hand. It was a simple item with one large gem in the middle and a string of smaller ones around it. Knowing that the Vathari wouldn’t bother showing him something of a mundane nature, Thad looked at it through his magical sight. The item glowed brightly with magical energy. It was a marvelous item that shielded anyone wearing it.

Unlike his other shields, the main core focused and brought all the other enchantments together. It was simply brilliant and something he hadn’t thought of before. Well that wasn’t completely true it worked much the way he had done some of his other enchantments but he had never carried the idea over to his other work.

Thad took his time and looked at each core one at a time. The shield only turned on when anything moved at the wearer at a speed that would cause damage. It also trigged if anything of metal touched the skin. The necklace was set up much the way his staff was so that all the needed spells used all the cores magic so that unless it needed to be triggered it always stored more energy that it needed for the base enchantments. While he had linked cores before each one only supported the center core they never had their own enchantment as well.

“I never thought of doing it like that. Thank you very much for the idea. I think it will solve my problem though it will take much longer to produce than I wished.” Thad said letting the necklace disappear into nothingness.

“I am glad I could be of assistance.” Sae-Thae said bowing his head slightly. “Truthfully I am amazed you are as skilled as you are without a traditional teacher. We have had some with magical power that were not allowed in the mage’s school, due to the limits who have taught themselves, but most of them end up burning themselves out and those that don’t aren’t even competent enough to light a fire.”

Thad couldn’t help but to smile at the praise. “I can’t say I didn’t have any help but it hasn’t been easy for the first year I went about it all wrong and tried to force the magic to do what I wanted instead of letting it flow naturally.”

“Now, that is simply amazing. A year you say? If you were performing anything other than the simplest of spells you’re either very strong or very lucky.” Sae-Thae said his face take on a very serious look.

“I would guess very lucky.” Thad said half laughing.

Sae-Thae joined in the laugher though it sounded much darker coming from the Vathari mage. “Don’t sell yourself short, the staff alone shows that you have great promise. I wouldn’t doubt that even in the prime of your people’s time that you would have been one of the most skilled mages the humans had to offer. If not then I don’t see how the Brotherhood had been able to drive them to extinction”

The mention of the Brotherhood grabbed Thad’s attention. He had read a small amount about them. They were the order that’s sole task had been to seek out and destroy anything of magical nature including mages. “What can you tell me of the Brotherhood?”

Sae-Thae’s face took on a serious tone. “The Brotherhood of the Fox was once one of the largest armies ever formed. With the Empires full might backing them they hunted down and killed the mages and non-human races. Normally mages had little to fear from armies but somehow the Brotherhood was able to learn to craft weapons that absorbed any magical energy they came into contact with. Sadly during the time you call the Fae Wars, the Vathari by our own laws couldn’t band together to fight off the Brotherhood and we suffered heavily. Thankfully most of our race lived underground and out of the Brotherhoods reach. The other races were not as lucky and many were drove to the brink of extinction. The Brotherhood didn’t end with the end of the Fae Wars, from our information they are still a plague on the surface, I wish I knew more to tell you but our information on the group is limited at best.”

“It’s more than I knew before.” Thad said slightly disappointed.

“Now back to the real reason I stopped by. I heard there was a commotion in the southern tunnels. Was that by chance you and your friends?”

“I’m not sure where the southern tunnels are but if you mean the little skirmish where the herd of creatures are, then yes that was us.”

Sae-Thae let out another short laugh. “I figured it was. I must say you continue to baffle the warriors. They don’t know how you were able to kill over twelve of their soldiers and disappear without a trace when every tunnel in the area was guarded. It seems that my mages and the priests are to make a more active role in the battles. My warrior counterpart is not happy about it at all, but the failure of his soldiers to bring you to heel has the rest of us quite happy, for too long he has held too much esteem for himself.”

“I am glad I could spice up your day.” Thad said half smiling to himself.

“That you did, but it seems that our time here grows short and I must attend to other matters. Good hunting my friend.” Sae-Thae said before disappearing leaving Thad alone.

Sae-Thae had given him plenty to think about but right now he wished that he would wake so that he could start working on the disguise shield. After spending nights trying to get into his own dream world when he finally accomplished it was now trying to get out after what felt like only a short stay. Sadly wanting to wake didn’t, maybe with more skill he would be able to wake himself. For now he simply sat down and began to work on how the enchantment would work when it was finished.

The great thing about the dream world was that he didn’t have to do the work to see the finished work. That didn’t mean it would work in the waking world but it gave him a base idea to begin with. He started out with five cores connected together the center one working as the driving force. The first core created a thin shield to work as a base. The second core searched the surrounding area and copied the heat patterns. The third core used the information from the second core to make an illusion over the shield that mimicked the heat signatures. The last core absorbed all sound made within the shield so that should even a battle break out within no one outside of the shield would be the wiser.

Within his dream it worked perfectly and only took the time to think it up to create. Once he woke he would begin his work but it would take days just to get the gems to link correctly so they worked in harmony and not independently. It was the major point of the whole design. He normally ran into troubles when he tried something new, but this time he had seen an example of the work, and he was sure he understood the basic principle.

With his main problem solved Thad laid back and relaxed simply enjoying the feel of the warmth of the sun on his skin. How long had he been gone from Farlan? He knew that the princess’s twelfth birthday was shortly after he had lost contact with her. Since he had stopped receiving messages he had no real way to measure time. He had cut his hair numerous times keeping it at shoulder length but having no clue of how fast it grew he couldn’t use that as a constant measure of time. From the feel of it he was sure he had been underground for at least a year if not more but it could have only been a season or two.

His body had grown thin over his time in the subterranean. It was mainly due to the thin diet he had. Though they had meat they had to ration it and Crusher ate about three times as much as him and according to the dwarf that was him eating light. Thad had grown fairly fond of the moss that grew naturally on the cave walls. It was a little spongy but it had a good flavor when it was cooked.

Thad let out a short laugh. For the past two years his life had been anything but what he had expected it to be. Even when he had first learned magic he never expected that he would save a queen, be thrown in prison, fight in a war, get captured, escape and then get trapped in an unending network of underground tunnels. It was almost as if someone was purposely playing with him out of some morbid sense of humor.

CHAPTER XIX

Thad sat hunched over the pair of thick bracelets that he had been working on for the past four days. Unlike most of his other work these had been designed not only to be practical but also were pleasing to the eye. The main base metal was made of a mix of the ultra-light metal and the white steel as Crusher had suggested. Over the base metal he had added a thin layer of gold made from some of the coins they had taken off the dead Vathari warriors. Thad had to admit that they looked like something a rich Rane merchant or maybe a king would wear to a party.

Each bracelet had two parts that linked together. The gems had been chosen and placed not only for effect but to look pleasing as well. Each side of the bracelets held its own enchantments that would aid him in not only the subterranean but also when he returned to the surface world. Together his four new bracelets would replace most of his rings and would do it much more efficiently.

The right bracelet first part covered the cloaking, silencing, and shield spells. Each spell had three levels so that they could be used in different situations. The cloaking spell could layer the enchantment in either nightsight or the normal light spectrum. The one for the light spectrum was a little more complicated but it simply took what one side of the shield saw and placed it on the other in three hundred and sixty degree radius. It had been the hardest single enchantment so far had had taken nearly a day alone on its own.

The other side of the right bracelet covered his light spell. He had thought about adding more to it but the spell itself could be used in many ways, and each one was in essence its own enchantment. So he had taken the time to make what was normally a simple spell into something much more complex. It even included a spell that would surround him in a ball of absolute darkness.

The left bracelet was more for combat and carried his paralyzing spell, as well as many others that he had used with great success. He still hadn’t found a way around the use of more volatile spells but he wasn’t sure if those should be placed on a solitary item that could be used by anyone who was able to get ahold of them. The only true combat spell was the magical force spell that while it would push him back could still devastate anything living.

Sae-Thae had been right most of his work had been rushed and not taken to its full potential. Once he had found something that worked he never tried to improve it, he just simply let it be set aside and moved onto the next project, he had never noticed it before but it was the truth. This time he promised to take the enchantments to their full value, even if it meant taking a much longer period to make.

At first Thad had been worried that Crusher would be anxious to leave and would lament the lost time. The dwarf to Thad’s surprise had taken the news without complaining and even offered his expertise in the design of his new bracelets. He had even done beautiful etching on the gold overlay that looked like dragons in flight.

Sitting back Thad looked at what he had accomplished so far. He had tried to keep the work evenly spread over all four parts of the bracelets so that the gems would be fully charged at the same time but it hadn’t been easy. The enchantments he knew well were much easier to place and the difficulty of the linking the cores seemed to fluctuate for unknown reasons. As it was all but one of them were almost a third of the way done.

It had been hard work and today he had already almost spent himself with varying results. The bracelet to keep them cloaked was moving along but he had to add in two extra gems to the base designed to make the magic distribution more even. They hadn’t needed to be very big but having to rearrange the links had been tiring work much more so than the original placement had been.

He had also been working on other items some of them at Crusher’s request including making a few shield walls to slow down pursuers in a pinch. There were a myriad of other items but they were mostly on the back burner when he needed a break from his main project of the bracelets.

Leaning back to stretch his strained muscles Thad looked at everything in front of him. It was slightly overwhelming. Everything he had to finish before they could even stand a chance of safely navigating through the throng of Vathari warriors that awaited them in the tunnels beyond. It would be nice if it was like most work and he could simply put in extra hours to get it done sooner but no matter how he tried he ran out of magical energy well before his body physically tired.

Thad decided to take a break to let his mind rest a bit before he started in on the next set of links. Moving into the main chamber he sat down across from Crusher who was busy at his own preparations. He was only doing simple things such as smoking enough meat to feed them in the event they couldn’t get to a fresh source of food for a long period of time.

Avalanche was curled up in a ball against the far wall. Out of the three companions she hated being shut in the most and had whined whenever she was in the mood to romp around. Thad wished he could let her out, but the chances that she would lead the Vathari to their door were too great to chance. Once she realized she was stuck in the small space she had resorted to pouting in the corner like a spoiled child.

Looking at the sleeping creature Thad began to wonder about Avalanche. There was little doubt she was an oddity. She behaved much the way many of the young animals he had seen on the surface. Most of the time there was just simply playful innocence in the animal’s actions but every so often Avalanche displayed intelligence far beyond what he expected.

It wasn’t as if she did anything earthshattering. It was that she seemed to understand when they wanted to fight and when they wanted to hide. When they had sent her to scout she had done so with little prompting completing the task expertly. Other times Avalanche didn’t even seem to understand the most basic of instructions, though Thad had a feeling that it was more of a choice on her part.

Crusher followed his gaze to where the animal slept and shrugged his shoulders slightly. Crusher seemed to know more about Avalanche than he did and seemed in awe of the creature at times. Thad wasn’t sure what that truly meant but he hoped that he would discovery the answer to that and many other questions at Crusher’s home.

Pulling a piece of meat from the rack Thad inspected it to make sure it had been fully cooked. It still lacked hours before it was ready to be stowed away but it was more than ready for eating. While he snacked on the dried meat Thad looked at the small enchantment that he had made to create the heat. It was a simple extension of a project he had started back at the capital. Back then he had found the task almost impossible but with Sae-Thae’s advice he had been able to figure out how to create it.

In the end it had been fairly simple. It didn’t have to be one single spell but could be a configuration of spells working together to get the wanted outcome. For the heat trapping device it simply started with a spell that heated up the air slowly. To trap the heat in the enchanted field also created a shield that held in the heat but allowed everything else to pass through it. In the end it was a low energy costing and could run for days before needing to rest and recharge.

He still didn’t understand why he didn’t figure it out on his own. He liked to think that given enough time he would have eventually came across the answer, but in all honesty he had the answer in his hands more than once but didn’t know it.

The worst part of everything was that with every conversation he had with Sae-Thae the more he was tempted to visit him in his own city. He wasn’t sure how he would accomplish such a task considering the largest portion of the Vathari seemed to want him dead. Maybe he could find a way to visit his mage friend after he had made it to the dwarven village and things had settled down a bit.

Thad had thought about discussing the issue with Crusher but he was stopped by the language barrier between them. Not only didn’t they speak the same language Crusher couldn’t speak at all. More than once it had been a problem but for most things the two could manage to get their point across. With every day that passed it had gotten easier but there were some things that couldn’t be explained in such manners.

His hunger quenched Thad patted his friend on the shoulder getting a big tooth smile and a slight wink. Thad had more than a small suspicion that the dwarf knew quite a bit about the magical process of enchanting. It wasn’t anything profound but the simple way the dwarf seemed to take everything he did in stride. He also showed a fair amount of concern when Thad pushed himself too hard as if he had seen another do it before.

Thad had shrugged off everything at first assured in the fact that he was the only mage until he saw the magical tattoos that were on Crusher’s back. He had gotten even more suspicious once he had met the Vathari mage Sae-Thae. Now he was not only aware that other mages were present, he had even met one. It filled him with hope that he wouldn’t have to continue to muddle through his magic as he learned.

Back in his makeshift workroom Thad sat down in front of the magical bracelets. Using his magical sight he looked over their progress. All the new links were strong and working as expected. Thad let out a sigh of relief; he had half expected to have to add more cores again. It wasn’t that they wouldn’t work with what he had but the idea was to make them not only work longer but last the test of time.

Sae-Thae had said that most of his previous work wouldn’t last more than a few years. Thad had been skeptical at first but after looking closely at the other items he had made he could notice a slight diminishing in its use of magic. It wasn’t fast by any means but it would be inconvenient if they failed at the wrong time.

Sure that everything was working as it should Thad moved onto the next stage. It was slow and tedious work but Thad enjoyed it in a simple way. The feel of the magic as it coursed through his body and implanted itself on the items in front of him was much akin to the enjoyment one might get from a well done massage.

Thrusting his mind forward Thad started building the interconnecting links between the different cores. Like the tunnels in the vast subterranean network, the paths to the different cores could go in many directions but some were better than others. It wasn’t as simple as the most direct route but what allowed the best flow of magic. There were times that a core only needed to be linked to one or two others and others times when the core had to be linked to the every other core and sometimes more than once. Thad wasn’t sure why it was but every time he made a new connection he watched the change carefully to help him understand. It was enough to know that it needed to be linked but it would be nice to know why. If he did then planning out a project would be much easier in the future.

Thad shook his head as his mind began to surface from his working trance. It was always hard to tell how much time had passed while he had been working but in the end the amount of time didn’t matter, only how much he was able to complete. His mind drained Thad didn’t have the strength left to look over his work. He hardly ever got to check his work after he finished as he was usually too tired to do anything more than sleep.

With a satisfied grin on his face Thad rolled over to where his bedroll lay in the corner of the room. The bedroll he had picked up back in the Ablaian prison had been in bad shape when he had taken it and had worn it down even more with constant use. There wasn’t much area left that didn’t have at least one tear or rip from a sharp rock but it was still much better than sleeping on the bare ground.

Closing his eyes Thad envisioned himself in the darkness of his own mind. Letting sleep take him bit by bit but leaving a small portion of his mind awake. Over the past few days he had only failed at entering a lucid dream state once. It wasn’t easy and in many ways took more concentration than enchanting but the rewards were enormous. To simply be able to feel the sun on his face and wind in his hair even in a dream soothed his soul and made the darkness that crept in on him every day more sufferable.

CHAPTER XX

Thad took one last look at the main room of the small complex of caves that he had called home, even if for a short time. He was slightly nervous to set out, not because he feared that his new enchanted items wouldn’t work but more because leaving signified the end of his wandering through the endless darkness. It had been a rough time filled with hardships but in a way it had been good for him. He had not only increased his skill and knowledge of magic but had been given numerous chances to use them in ways he would have never thought of had he not been in such a situation. Not to mention his meeting of Crusher and Sae-Thae who had been invaluable in their own rights.

With a nod to Crusher Thad activated the new camouflage shield and took down the wall that had protected them from the Vathari. Thanks to some of his magical eyes placed around the outside of their home he had known the coast was clear before they started out. In fact over the past few days the number of roving Vathari troops had diminished by half. He wasn’t sure if that meant they were widening their search or had given up searching for them altogether.

Crusher took the lead, moving slowly easily allowing the three to move while staying inside the bracelets protective ring. It was easy to tell that the dwarf knew where he was going as there was no hesitation when he chose his route. A few times they did have to back out of a tight tunnel to let a group of Vathari warriors pass by but other than that everything was going smoothly.

The only real problem Thad could see was when it came time to stop. If they couldn’t find a good place then they might well find themselves surrounded when they dropped their protective walls in the morning. The thought nagged at him a little as they moved through the tunnels but not having any real control over the situation Thad tried to let it go and enjoy the simple walk.

Avalanche walked next to Crusher bouncing around enjoying being in the open tunnels again even if she wasn’t allowed to roam far. She was quite handy too as she alerted him to the presence of the Vathari long before Thad could see them. Sometimes Thad could tell that she wanted to run off and play with the Vathari but a stern look from Crusher was all it took to make her quiet back down with a slight whimper. Watching the two of them reminded Thad much of how Joan and her grandkids carried on with each other sometimes.

The further they moved, the more obvious of a presence the Vathari made. There were plenty of soldiers but mostly what they saw were workers mining ore from what appeared to be a very rich mine. Every time they passed one of the carts loaded down Thad could see Crusher’s shoulders tense. A few times Thad even feared the dwarf would kill a stray Vathari worker for daring to steal from the dwarven mines. Luckily the dwarf had been able to hold his temper but Thad could tell that it was harder each time easy prey showed up.

His feet aching and nerves shot Thad was more than happy when Crusher led them to a small tunnel that dead ended and signaled for him to put up their protective wall. The tunnel wasn’t very wide so Thad had to place the wall almost near the entrance to allow enough space for all of them to be able to lie down.

Having had his own room over the last few days Thad had forgotten how loudly the dwarf snored. Usually as tired as he was from working it wouldn’t have mattered how loud the noise was, but tonight it seemed as if the dwarf was doing it right next to his ear. Thad tried to position his arms over his ears and while that worked for a time it was hard to sleep and hold the position. Tossing and turning as he tried everything to block out the noise Thad finally fell into a deep sleep.

Thad woke the next morning to Crusher kicking him lightly in his back. Turning to face the dwarf Thad gave him a sour look. He still felt tired much more so than when he had first lay down to sleep and wanted nothing else than to continue to rest. Turning back over Thad pulled his bedroll over his head to block out even the sight of the burly dwarf but it was to no avail as he was continuously prodded until he relented and got up from his comfy bed.

After he cleared the sleepiness from his mind he understood why Crusher was so insistent he wake. Outside their protective wall there was an obvious plethora of activity. Cursing himself for not placing one of his magical eyes outside of their cubbyhole Thad moved over and placed his ear against the cold metal wall.

From what he could hear a large number of Vathari had massed outside and were nosily talking about something. He wasn’t sure what it was for certain but he had a suspicion it was the magical wall that wasn’t there the day before. The last time they had put up the wall it had been made to look like the walls around it. In his own error Thad had placed the wall up without checking the heat patterns and matching them to the existing ones. It was a huge oversight one it seems didn’t escape the notice of the Vathari.

Thad turned to Crusher and motioned for them to use the disguised shield and take down the wall and sneak out but Crusher simply shook his head. Thad let out a heavy sigh he doubted it would work either the only thing it would accomplish was wasting the bracelets stores of magic. That only left one other option. Pulling his sword from its scabbard Thad braced himself for the coming battle.

Crusher had a large smile on his face while Avalanche bounced around happily anticipating the coming fun. Thad returned his friends smile as the wall shrunk back down into a small ball revealing nearly fifteen Vathari warriors on the other side.

It would have been easy to hold the small tunnel for a long time where only one enemy could get at them at a time. The only problem was that time wasn’t on their side. Sooner or later they would tire and the enemies’ numbers were far beyond anything they could hope to match. Their only real chance was to break through and hope they could distance themselves from the Vathari and disappear into the darkness.

As soon as the wall vanished Thad let loose a large bolt of lightning following right behind it swinging at any of the Vathari standing in his way. The close quarters worked against the Vathari who had no way to escape the magical attack or the brute force that followed it. Within mere moments all of them lay dead, and Thad hoped that would be the end. As soon as they broke into the open cavern beyond, they found themselves surrounded by more soldiers than one could easily count.

The companions stopped dead in their tracks as they came to realize the situation they were in. Looking over to Crusher Thad shrugged his shoulders and gave the dwarf a strained smile, and then rushed toward the largest group of enemies. Crusher and Avalanche followed his lead and each chose their own target. Sometimes it was useful to fight as a group but each of the three had their own fighting style and in their case it usually got in the others way.

There were a little over twenty Vathari in the group Thad had chosen. When he was only a dozen steeps away Thad pointed his left hand at the creatures in front of him. Wanting to try his new enchanted weapon he let loose with a magical force wave that tore through the enemies. While the attack didn’t do a lot of damage it did knock the Vathari from their feet giving him a distinct starting advantage.

Thad ran by three of the downed Vathari making quick cuts to their throat before they could regain their footing. It didn’t really seem sporting but Thad couldn’t really afford to let the chance slip by. Shortly after he finished off the third of the downed warriors enough of the others had gotten to the feet and began to engage him in close combat.

As he dodged a sword blow that cut too close for comfort to his head Thad had the urge to trigger his shield forcibly but he held himself back. He had designed the new shield so it only activated when he was in danger but it was still untested and that fact still tugged on his mind. If it didn’t work he still had two of his shield rings on, but that would do him little good if the first blow he took was a fatal one. Shaking his worries from his mind Thad pressed his attack focusing on only his enemies and his own attacks.

Thad found himself engaged by four of the Vathari while the others held back waiting for their chance to strike. They were pressing him hard and as soon as he blocked one attack he had to reposition for another. Thad had little choice but to use magic to help even the odds but even getting the time to use a spell was difficult. He had never used one before while he was also engaged in close combat but if any time was the right time to try it was now.

Parrying a blow to his side Thad slid his lead foot back dodging another strike Thad summoned his staff to his hand quickly holding it over his head to block a Vathari sword that threatened to split his skull. As soon as the sword struck the staff Thad sent a pulse of magic through it and into the unfortunate warrior that held it, tearing his arm from his body.

The magical attack only gave him a brief window to act but Thad was waiting on it and quickly racked the group of waiting Vathari with a massive stream of fire. The warriors who escaped the fiery blaze rushed him, forcing him to once again take a defensive position. Luckily, as they had before, all the Vathari gave his staff a great deal of space whenever he used it for an attack.

Swinging his staff Thad forced the Vathari to step back then jumped in with a quick thrust to the nearest enemy. The warriors quickly parried his blow but the creature’s eyes were fixated with what Thad was doing with his staff making it easy for Thad to let his sword slide down as he pivoted his feet knocking the warrior off balance, gracing Thad with a clear shot at his exposed side.

His sword slid easily between the Vathari’s ribs puncturing its heart. Thad knew the warrior was dead long before it stopped moving. Kicking the dead body from his sword Thad turned expecting to see another attacking advancing, instead Thad found that they were all backing away slowing keeping their eyes pinned on him.

Thad wasn’t sure what was going on until two robed figures stepped from the shadows and calmly approached him. They were taller than him by nearly a foot and neither carried a weapon as far as Thad could tell but the long robes they wore could easily hide something within its heavy folds.

Taking a few deep breaths Thad readied himself. He was sure that they were either mages like himself or what Sae-Thae had called priests. All he really knew about their magic was that it was limited to the use of the darkness element. That didn’t mean there still wasn’t a lot they could do with it. Their people had been around and training mages for centuries and had most likely had spells that he couldn’t even fathom. All he could really do was stand and wait to see what his counterparts did and hope that he could match them blow for blow. It would have sat better with him if it wasn’t already to his disadvantage, having to fight two against one.

The air was tense as the three men stared at each other no more than a handful of paces apart. Thad watched as one of the Vathari lifted up his arm and held out a closed fist toward him. Unsure of what to suspect Thad let his magical sight take over. What he saw nearly made him turn and run. A great blanket of magical energy was reaching toward him like a ghostly hand.

Thad raised his staff using his own magic to try and mimic what he saw in front of him. It was far from perfect but it looked to be stalling the other mage’s efforts. While he was focused on the one mage the other one sent another stream of what looked like a large black fireball. With all his magical efforts on the first mage Thad nearly panicked when the large ball of black flame slammed into him. His shield activated forcing the fireball to break around him though the sheer force of it still forced him back a few steps.

Not wanting to stay on the defensive Thad triggered his bracelet sending out a ball of force toward the first Vathari mage. When the ball of force was only a few heartbeats away from striking the mage let his attack dissipate and put up a shield of his own. Thad didn’t relent now that he had a moment and sent lightning streaking toward both of the mages. It struck against their shield filling the cavern with multicolored lights.

As soon as his lightning attack stopped, both mages working as one, sending dozens of small black bolts of energy toward him. The magical bolts tore into Thad’s shield hitting it hard. Thad tried to reinforce it but he was too slow as one of the bolts struck him in the left shoulder blasting a small hole and knocking him to the ground.

When Thad hit the ground his sword skidded from his hand and flew to the far side of the room. His first instinct was to race for the sword but he fought against it as he jumped to his feet. He knew the blade was next to useless against a mage but having it in his hand had been reassuring. He was losing and badly against the mages one on one he might stand a chance but it was only a matter of time before the two overpowered him.

As soon as Thad got to his feet he noticed that the mages were already busy casting their next spell and from the amount of magical energies the two were absorbing it was going to be a strong one. Thad tried to think of anything that might work when he remember his other sword. He wasn’t sure why he had forgotten about it in the first place. Wasting no time Thad pulled the sword from its scabbard and took his position awaiting whatever the Vathari were going to throw at him.

Thad didn’t have to wait long to find out. From the ground a massive creature of shadow began to crawl up from the ground. Examining it he found that it was more illusion than real but he knew from his own experience that the mages could add substance whenever they desired. It was a brilliant idea normal spells would pass right through it as long as it was a base illusion. He guessed that one of the mages was holding the illusion while the other would make it more solid when and where it was needed.

Thad pushed the pain from his injured shoulder aside and charged toward the two mages. They were obviously well trained as they didn’t even flinch as he rushed at them instead their shadow monster moved to intercept him. The shadow creature was easily twice his size but Thad figured that would work to his advantage.

The shadow creature quickly caught up to him and swept one of its massive arms at his back. Thad dived to the side in a tight roll. When his shoulder hit the ground he cried out in pain. Getting to his feet Thad found the creature had already adjusted for his move and was swinging its giant fist straight down toward his head.

Thad instinctively raised his sword to block the blow. When the shadow creature’s fist made contact with the blade of Thad’s sword, it dissipated as if the sword was a light chasing away the darkness. The shadow creature stepped back and Thad hear a scream from his side. Looking over he saw one of the mages holding his head as blood ran from his nose. Thad had been on the business end of that feeling before. It was never pleasant when you were the subject of magical backlash when a spell failed prematurely.

Knowing what to do Thad advanced on the shadow creature dodging its attacks and striking at any target that presented itself. Each time his blade met with the shadow he could hear the satisfying scream of one of the mages behind him. He continued to press the attack until the walking shadow dissipated back into the surrounding darkness.

With the mages construct out of commission Thad turned his attention back to its creators. Both of the mages were wide eyed, the fear they felt plainly displayed on their faces as Thad advanced on them. One of the mages turned and tried to run but Thad wasn’t in the mood to let him escape and hurled a massive fireball at the fleeing man. He must have been weakened more than Thad had realized as the flaming ball overtook the mage quickly engulfing him leaving only a charred husk behind.

The remaining mage was visibly sweating and looked as if he was on the verge of panic himself. The mage began to throw more of the black blots toward him but what few got past his shield dissipated when they reached him. Thad now understood why the Brotherhood had such an easy time hunting down mages of great power. With a sword that absorbed any direct effect magic a small group of soldiers could be devastating at close range.

With every step Thad took the mage became more agitated and pushed his magic harder. Thad could see as the Vathari began to sway. He had used up more than he could handle and now was fighting out of pure fear. Thad took pity on the mage and hastened his pace. Then with one clean stroke Thad removed the doomed warriors head from his shoulders.

CHAPTER XXI

Thad turned to see that the Vathari who had witnessed the battle had no urge to engage him in combat. Shrugging his shoulders Thad turned to and scanned the room to see how his companions were holding out.

Avalanche was running around the room tackling and quickly killing any Vathari unlucky enough to get in her way. Many of the warriors moved to intercept her but she easily dodged them as if it were a great game to her. Thad could see another robed figure trying to stop the devastating animal but was having little success.

The robed figure looked different than the two he had face. And the spells it was using looked different to Thad. They still had the same characteristics of the darkness element but they had a different feel. Thad couldn’t see that the robed warrior was drawing any magic from its surrounds either. The only idea that came to mind is that it must be one of the priests Sae-Thae had told him about. For a moment he thought about taking out the robed figure but decided to allow Avalanche her play.

Thad found a mass of bodies strewn about where Crusher was at. It looked as if he had taken out half the army on his own. At the moment he only fought one lone warrior. The Vathari warrior was much larger than any of the others he had seen. Even with the size advantage Thad expected Crusher to make short work of the other warrior but the longer he watched the clearer it became that the dwarf was barely holding his own.

Thad watched as Crusher swung his axe trying to cut the Vathari warrior’s knees out from under him but was thwarted as the warrior easily parried the blow following up with a backhand strike from its free hand that connected on the dwarf’s jaw lifting him into the air and tossing him hard into the wall behind him.

When his friend didn’t rise Thad feared the worst. But then he saw slight movement from Crusher and he heaved a sigh of relief, until he noticed that it was impossible for the dwarf to get back his bearings before the Vathari warrior would be on top of him.

Thinking fast Thad placed a shield around the dwarf. They were a good distance apart so there was considerable strain each second Thad had to hold it. Not knowing what else to do Thad calmly moved toward where the dwarf lay. The Vathari warrior brought down a quick overhead strike aimed at Crusher’s neck but inches above the dwarf the sword stopped short. The warrior tried again but his attack stopped in the same place as before.

The large warrior stopped his useless assault on the dwarf and looked around the room until his eyes fell on Thad. The look on the warriors face clearly showed that he cared little for Thad’s interference in his battle. In all honestly he wasn’t sure how his friend would take his interference either. He still had trouble separating what was real and what was made up when it came to the dwarves. If the stories were true then the dwarf would be upset that he had been robbed of a glorious death in battle.

The colossal Vathari moved toward him with a measured stride as if he was simply taking an evening stroll. A part of Thad wanted to test his metal against the warrior but he didn’t know if his sword would hold up against a blow from the warrior’s massive two-handed sword. Looking around Thad saw his other sword laying a little over a hundred feet away and wished he had retrieved it earlier. Positioning himself between the sword and the warrior Thad began backing toward where the sword lay.

It was obvious that the Vathari would reach him long before he could get to the sword, so he did the only thing left to him. The battle was with the two mages had only worn at him a little but Thad still didn’t want to overuse his magic in the event it was needed later. Looking at the hulking monstrosity of a warrior, it didn’t look like he was being left much of a choice in the matter.

Leveling his staff at the Vathari Thad let loose a stream of magical bolts much like was used against him. Thad was sure they would strike and was more than a little surprised when they simply seemed to pass through the warrior as if he were made of smoke. The second the magical bolts passed through the warrior Thad feel into his magical sight but the warrior didn’t seem to be different than any of the other Vathari he had faced.

His confidence slightly shaken, Thad increased his backwards walk toward his sword. The Vathari warrior didn’t seem to care much that he was getting closer to his sword. In fact it looked as if he was deliberately allowing Thad to reach it.

When the heel of his foot finally struck against the hilt of his sword Thad let out a sigh of relief. Watching the warrior intently Thad sheathed the sword in his hand. Not wanting to bend down to pick it up Thad slid the toe of his boot under the blade at the hilt then kicked up throwing the sword into the air. Taking a step forward Thad caught the hilt of the sword deftly and readied himself for the large warrior.

He didn’t have to wait long almost the second the sword was in his hand the warrior began his assault. Despite his large body the Vathari warrior’s attacks were fast and expertly made. It was all Thad could do to move his own sword in place parry the blows. After a few moments Thad started to get the rhythm of the warrior’s movements making it easier to keep up. He noticed a few small openings but let them pass waiting for one large enough to cause a large amount of damage.

His patience paid off when the Vathari put too much strength into his blow causing a slight delay in his recovery. Thad didn’t wait jumping right in with a strike aimed at the exposed ribs of the warrior. As the blade reached the warrior’s skin Thad saw the tip begin to pierce then there was nothing. The warrior had vanished into the surrounding darkness.

Thad looked around slightly frantic and found the warrior standing behind him his massive sword coming down straight for his head. Thad was motionless like a statue as the blade rushed toward him, he was shaken out of his comatose state when the sword was pushed back by his shield though a large amount of the force still passed into him making his stomach flip.

Thad recovered fast from his shock and was able to get his sword in pace to block the warriors second strike. While his shield had blocked the attack, the sheer force of the attack had work greatly on the enchantments stores of magical energy. He wasn’t sure how much of a beating the shield could take but he doubt it could take many of the Vathari full force blows before it weakened to the point it wouldn’t be of use.

The Vathari warrior continued to attack vigorously. Thad met each blow but his hand was quickly beginning to numb from the sheer force of the blows, and his wounded left shoulder was screaming in pain from the jarring attacks. Cutting his eyes over to where Crusher had laid he found the dwarf being protected by Avalanche who attacked any Vathari who came near. Thad could tell that Crusher was trying to regain his senses but for the time being it looked like Thad was alone in his fight against the behemoth.

When the Vathari made another overhead strike Thad ignored the attack and instead struck out it his own sword at the soldier’s midsection. Thad was watching closely as the warrior disappeared in front of his eyes. Thad knew what was coming and dived to the ground.

Thad didn’t know what to do. The second before his sword pierced the warrior there was a massive surge of magical energy then the Vathari simply vanished. He had no clue how it worked and he doubted his other sword would do much good as it wasn’t a direct effect spell not to mention that the spell activated before his sword actually landed a blow. The only thing he noticed that he noticed was that the light above them slightly dimmed the second before the warrior disappeared.

Thad jumped back and brought him some time by distancing himself from his enemy. As soon as he was sure that he was far enough away Thad reached into his pack and brought out three different metal orbs and tossed them around them. As soon as the orbs hit the ground a bright light radiated from them lighting the cavern as if the sun itself had been raised within it. He didn’t know if it would work but looking more closely the warrior had an aura of darkness surrounding him and when he reappeared it was in the darkness behind him.

The warrior stopped his advancement as the room was bathed in light. Taking a deep breath Thad rushed toward the Vathari warrior hoping his slight hesitation was a good sign. Thad went straight for the Vathari putting his full strength into each blow. The warrior blocked his attacks and returned them with even more strength.

Thad was tiring fast but he kept up hope when one of his strikes finally made it through his enemies defense drawing a thin line of blood. For the first time in the battle the tables were turning and the warrior didn’t seem to enjoy it. He came at Thad with renewed vigor and strength forcing Thad back with every blow. Then a slash aimed at his chest slipped past his guard and hit his shield. For a brief second his shield held then collapsed letting the sword through.

Thad looked down to see blood spraying from his chest. The wound wasn’t very deep but it was wide and if the blood wasn’t stopped soon he would bleed out. Thad legs gave out from underneath him and he fell to his knees in front of the massive warrior. He could see the blow coming and feebly raised his sword to fend off the blow. When the blow landed it threw his sword from his hand and knocked down on his side.

Thad didn’t cry out, he only watched in horror as the warrior raised his sword again. He had nothing left to give. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open. Everything moved in slow motion as the sword reached its peak and began its decent. Thad did the only left to him he pushed with his right hand and rolled away. The blade struck the ground hitting mere inches away from where his head had just been. It was a futile attempt as now Thad found himself laying face up looking at the warrior with nothing left to do but watch his own doom.

Thad closed his eyes and waited for the end. In the darkness of his own mind he began to think about everything that had happened in his life. The people he had known and the ones he had come to love. He hoped they were all safe if not he hoped he would see them again in the afterlife.

Something hot and wet splashed across Thad’s face. For a brief moment he was sure it was his own blood but for some reason he could still feel and think. Then something tugged at his arm pulling him across the cold ground.

Thad opened his eyes to see Crusher lifting him up and carrying him toward the nearest tunnel. His eyes wouldn’t focus well so he couldn’t see the rest of the cavern but he could hear as the other Vathari warrior approached them. He was sure they would soon be overcome but from behind he hear the distinct noise of Avalanche jumping around and the screams of dying men as they met with her deadly maw.

As soon as they were in the tunnel Crusher threw something behind him and continued on. Every now and then his friend would stop for a few seconds but Thad couldn’t tell what he was doing in the darkness. The light from his bracelet was soon gone and Thad felt as his staff fell from his hands. He had forgotten he even still held it in his hands. He wanted to ask for Crusher to gather it up for him but no sound came out. His mouth was parched and gritty as if he had tried to drink a glass of sand. It wasn’t like he really needed it anyway maybe Sae-Thae would end up with it. He liked that idea, the Vathari mage had mentioned more than once that he would like to own something of its strength, and as the only other mage he really knew it made sense for him to possess it.

Thad forced himself to stay awake as his friend carried him through the darkness. A rainbow of colors began to flash in his one good eye and he began to shiver as the heat left his body. It was a losing battle but he tried his best to keep up hope that he would live past the hour.

He tried to laugh as he felt Crusher let him slide gently to the floor. Had the enemy caught up to them, or had his friend realized that he was soon to be dead and decided to take his chances on his own rather than carrying a corpse around with him. He felt as the dwarf pressed hard against his chest. He wanted to tell his friend that it was hopeless and to leave him as the darkness encroached on him. Then everything ended, he didn’t feel cold, pain, nothing it was all gone. “So this is death.” Thad said laughing within the recesses of his own mind.

CHAPTER XXII

Thad found himself floating within the darkness. The pain was back but not as pronounced as before. He wasn’t sure if he was dead or simply sleeping. He knew he had lost a fatal amount of blood, but as far as he could tell he was simply in his dream state. Waving his hand the darkness receded, replaced by the queen’s palace.

It was night and Thad found himself on the balcony overlooking the queen’s garden. The moon lilies shined brightly illuminating the ground below. The princess sat beside him on a pillow made of a dark dyed red silk.

“Am I dead?” Thad asked looking into her deep green eyes.

Maria held her hand over her moth giggling slightly. “How am I supposed to know? Though if I was forced to answer I would have to say no, but I could be wrong.”

“You know I have missed you a great deal?” Thad said leaning back on his hands looking up at the moon.

Thad felt her warm hand as it covered his own. “I’m glad to hear that. You have been gone for such a long time I was afraid that you had forgotten about me. It’s good to know that I was wrong.” She said her voice slightly melancholy.

Looking closer at her he noticed that she had changed slightly. She looked taller and she had obviously blossomed more into her womanhood than when he had last seen her. She also looked as if she had seen some hard times. It wasn’t anything profound but her eyes had lost the youthful innocence they had once held. She also wore a plain dress under a standard fighters’ battle harness. He would have laughed if it hadn’t been his own mind that had created the image. Was this how he truly pictured the princess?

“I have never forgotten about you. I think about you and the others daily. I believe it is all that has kept me going at times. It hasn’t been easy but I hope one day soon I can once again stand with you and watch the night sky again.” Thad said giving the princess a rueful smile.

Maria returned his smile than stood up and went to the rail looking longingly at the gardens below. “I don’t know if now would be the best time for you to return. Things have become a bit complicated, but I promise I will have it fixed soon. So please don’t give up and find your way back home to us.”

Thad found it a little odd Maria seemed worried about something. Shouldn’t she be happy and playful the way she had been when he had last seen her. Was his own mind trying to tell him something the way it had when he was forming the magic in the wrong way. If it was he was sure he would have the same dream again so he let it pass, and let himself simply enjoy the company.

“I’ll try my best to work on that.” Thad said giving her a reassuring smile.

The two sat in silence for a long time staring into the night sky. There was plenty Thad wanted to say but he wanted to say it to the real Princess. Not simply a figment of his own imagination even if it was a very pretty figment. In a way it looked as if it was a mix of the soft princess and the fiery Eloen both women he found himself attached to.

He had to admit that he found the princess much more attractive in fighters garb and shorter hair. It was hard to admit but she had always seemed aloof and out of reach when he was in the palace. She took the time to talk to him and showed genuine concern but she still had the air about her that she was above his station. Now that was gone, she felt like someone he could relate to, someone within his grasp.

Shrugging his shoulders, why shouldn’t he enjoy his own dreams? Leaning down Thad kissed Maria softly on the lips. They were soft and up close she smelled nice almost like a field of wild flowers. When he pulled back Maria was blushing furiously. She never said anything but a large grin stayed sprawled across her face.

Thad woke with every inch of his body in pain. Wherever he was it was pitch dark. Thad switched his magical eye to nightsight but all he could see was the ceiling above him. He tried to sit up but the second the muscles in his stomach contracted a wave of pain rolled threw him so fierce he nearly vomited.

Shortly after his eyes opened Crusher was at his side pouring some foul tasting concoction down his throat. He tried to swallow but all he accomplished was sending him into a coughing fit. Off to the side he could hear Avalanche whining. He had the urge to comfort the creature but any movement he made only made his pain worse.

Crusher continued to pour the liquid down his throat until he was satisfied that Thad had ingested enough of it to drown a small village. The good side was after their first few drinks the taste didn’t get any worse, the bad side was once it was down his throat the taste didn’t go away. The longer he lay awake, the more he began to understand something was wrong. He felt hot, even though as far as he could tell he was wearing nothing but a grimace. He could feel the sweat beading up and he felt as if he was lying next to a furnace. He knew what that meant his wound was infected, and from what he had learned that meant he was in for a long and painful time and most likely death.

Thad drifted in and out of consciousness. The first few times he found himself lying on the ground staring at nothing but the darkness. When he awoke to and found himself being carried on Crusher’s back. Every step the dwarf made was measured and careful and Thad only felt the smallest of pain from the slight jarring.

The amount of time he was able to stay awake seemed to shorten each time he woke. At first it was a few hours but lately it seemed as if his had barely opened before he was back into the dream world. The clarity at which he could think was also drastically falling. While he was awake it was as if someone had muddled everything in his mind. The worst thing for him was that he couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Had he slept for a few seconds or had it been days.

Thad had grown quite fond of being asleep. For one thing there was less pain and he didn’t feel as if he was being boiled alive. He also had time to think and enjoy the fresh air. He was sure he was dead his body just wasn’t ready to admit it yet.

Thad hadn’t seen anyone else in his dream world since Maria had graced it. He had tried to make other people appear but when he did they didn’t move or act. He wasn’t sure how he had accomplished it the first time but wished he could recreate it again. Being alone was starting to get slightly distressing.

He had taken to spending his sleeping time back on Joan’s farm. It was the most peaceful time of his life. There had been no expectations from anyone including himself. No danger, no fear of being exposed, and no fear of losing those dear to him. A part of him wished he could go back in time and take Joan and her families’ offer for him to stay, but he knew in his heart that he would have regretted it if he had.

His time in Farlan had been less than pleasant most of the time but he had also had good times. He had also made some good and trusting friends. For every hardship he had faced he had also found a line of hope that helped pull him through.

“Not doing so well are we?” Thad heard a voice say from behind him.

Thad turned to find Sae-Thae sitting comfortably behind him on one of his unusual chairs. His face was drawn tight and he looked as if he hadn’t slept in days or more. Seeing the concern on his face Sae-Thae simply gave him a half smile. “I know I must look a mess but the current project I have been working on has taken a large amount of my energy and time. There’s nothing for you to be overly concerned about.”

“I can’t say I’m faring any better at the moment.” Thad said returning the smile.

“I can tell your energy is off balance and much weaker than normal.” Sae-Thae said frowning. “I watched the battle that you had with my mages and the shadow warrior. It was a well fought match. I didn’t realize you had one of the Brotherhood’s weapons. We have a few in the vault but they make poor weapons unless one is fighting a mage.”

“Yes I came across it by accident but have kept it with me so that it couldn’t be used against me again. I have tried to study it in hopes of learning how it works but so far I have learned nothing about it.”

“Ah, yes I spent a few years studying them on and off for my first few years as a master mage in hopes of the same thing. I must admit I failed horribly. I did learn one thing in one misguided experiment. Don’t ever break one by overloading it with magical power. I destroyed a whole wing of the magical academy. The only reason I survived the whole affair was that was quick on my feet. The other three mages who were with me weren’t as lucky.”

Thad leaned forward completely captivated by the older mage. “What happened?”

“We were trying to find out if there was a limit to the amount of magical energy the sword could absorb at once. Four of the strongest master mages had gathered together to see if we threw our collective might at the weapon, if we could destroy it. We threw everything we had at the sword and it broke. That was the start of the trouble. It didn’t simply break and stop working but a massive hole of darkness opened up sucking in everything into an endless abyss. I latched myself to the ground using my magic the other three were too slow and disappeared into the darkness. When the portal closed everything was gone, simply gone. Since that date I have stayed well clear of those swords.”

“I will take your lesson to heart.” Thad said his voice laced with worry. He had tried doing the same thing one time. Thank the gods he had been unsuccessful.

“See that you do. I can understand why you want to keep the weapon near but I would suggest you find a safe place to keep it well away from anything that might damage it. I have never tried to break it normally but after my last experience with the sword I haven’t wanted to try it either. Now for the reason I came to visit. We have learned that you are near the dwarven village in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re already there it’s hard to tell. As you know we are forbidden to kill too many of the dwarves but my fellow Vathari heads are quite enraged at the damage you have done to our forces and are determined to see you dead. If you ever get cornered just yell out the words, ‘Val sur tala reth.’ Once those words are uttered by a human mage our people are required to allow them protected passage to our village.”

“I will keep that in mind. Honestly I would like to see your village one day.” Thad said smiling.

“Now, I have to leave you. You’re starting to roam too far away for me to continue contacting you. So unless you visit this is goodbye my friend. I hope your health returns and you take my offer and visit. It would be nice to have a mage around who wasn’t secretly waiting for me to misstep.”

And with that Sae-Thae was gone. He had only spoken to the mage a few times but he considered him a true friend. He had helped Thad stay alive and sane. He was the only person who he had been able to talk to in the many days in the subterranean world. It had been a short friendship but it was one he would miss dearly.

When Thad’s eyes opened he found himself surrounded by unfamiliar faces speaking to him in deep but soothing tones. He couldn’t understand the words but it didn’t matter he could hear their voices.

He had made it to the dwarven village alive. His body still hurt but the feeling of being cooked alive was gone. Now he only felt as if he had been through a gauntlet of large warriors. He tried to sit up but one of the people surrounding his bed held him down. Thad let out a heavy sigh he had seen that look before back on Joan’s farm when he had pushed himself too far. Letting out a slight laugh Thad gave up and let himself relax.

EPILOGUE

Thad sat up in his bed. He had been in the dwarven village for about ten days and was still confined to his bed. Crusher visited along with Avalanche almost daily. His dwarven friend had also regained his voice. Obviously the dwarven healers were far better than he was and had been able to do what he had been unable to do.

The woman watching him was nothing like what he had read about dwarven women. Like Crusher her face was hair free and while she was slightly blockier than the women that he was used to she was far from ugly. She looked as if she was in middle years though Thad was unsure of that face not knowing much about how dwarves aged. She wore her black hair braided into an interesting pattern. Each day there were slight differences and Thad enjoyed trying to find them. Her eyes were a coal-colored and her voice while a little deeper than most was still light and pleasant to the ears.

He still had trouble understand what was being said to him but he was beginning to pick up on the basics of the language, thanks in a large part to Crusher’s help. The words always felt a little heavy to his tongue but learning it gave him something to do other than stare out the window.

He couldn’t wait to be free of his bed. He could see the sky from his seat but he couldn’t wait to feel the sun on his skin again. He was amazed when he first realized that the dwarves didn’t live underground. All the stories he had heard of them had always painted them as living in caves in the mountains and here he finds that they live on the surface in a fairly large village.

Other than Crusher he was also visited a lot by what he believed was one of the elders or leaders of the village. He wore a long grey beard and looked as if he was well over a hundred years old if Thad was going by human standards. The dwarf had been interested in the Brotherhood sword he carried but with only a limited command of their tongue it was hard to explain how he had acquired it. Other than those few distractions, Thad was left on his own to heal. Sitting back Thad looked wistfully out of the window. He couldn’t wait to once again fell the grass between his toes.

A picture of Sae-Thae flashed into his mind. Looking over at his staff that rested in the corner of the room Thad let out a sigh. “Yes I have been thinking about that, but I don’t think now is the time for it. We have other things to attend to.”

Thad wasn’t sure how the staff had gotten to the room. One morning he awake and it was there. He wasn’t sure if he had called it or it had done it on its own. The staff didn’t even seem to know the answer to that question. Thad was getting tired of mysteries; they just seemed to keep heaping up. His mind weary Thad let himself drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Table of Contents

- CHAPTER I
- CHAPTER II
- CHAPTER III
- CHAPTER IV
- CHAPTER V
- CHAPTER VI
- CHAPTER VII
- CHAPTER VIII
- CHAPTER IX
- CHAPTER X
- CHAPTER XI
- CHAPTER XII
- CHAPTER XIII
- CHAPTER XIV
- CHAPTER XV
- CHAPTER XVI
- CHAPTER XVII
- CHAPTER XVIII
- CHAPTER XIX
- CHAPTER XX
- CHAPTER XXI
- CHAPTER XXII
- EPILOGUE