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  The lead wagon set the pace, moving across the large open space. The exit tunnel was maybe three hundred yards away. In between them and the exit were scattered boulders, stalagmites, and large fungal growths, many the size of a wagon or larger. A small waterfall cascaded down one wall to their left, the noise masking the sound of the wagon wheels grinding on stone.

  Mace could see three tunnels exiting the cavern, including the one toward which they were heading. That was not a good thing. Crossroads like this tended to mean more traffic through the cavern. And more traffic usually meant more predators looking for some easy meat.

  They were perhaps halfway across the cavern floor when the petramanders all froze. They raised their heads, tongues lashing out to ‘smell’ the air. Their heads cocked first to one side, then the other, listening. Something was definitely out there. Mace searched among the surrounding rocks, paying special attention to those on the path behind the wagon. The eerie silence of the cavern was shattered by the short-lived scream of one of the escort guards that brought up the rear. As Krieger shot to his feet, Mace spun toward the guard. He spotted him about twenty yards back, just emerging from behind a stalagmite. His body was being lifted off the back of his wild-eyed petramander. Mace could see a large stinger protruding from the drow’s chest.

  “Shit! Scorpoid. Big one!” Mace whispered to the Swordmaster. The second rear guard was turning his mount to face the monster that had just killed and hauled away his partner. Mace couldn’t see the beast, but he’d recognized its distinctive tail. The guard raised a spear to a jousting position and spurred his lizard forward.

  Scorpoids were large scorpion-like monsters. As much as twenty feet in length fully grown, they stood eight feet high or more at the shoulder. Rather than the two large foreclaws of a scorpion, scorpoids sported four front limbs, each with pincer claws, all similar in size. As Mace watched the body of the guard rise into the air, one of those claws clamped on to his torso. With a seemingly effortless squeeze, it cut the drow in half.

  The smell of blood and offal sent the dead guard’s lizard into a frenzy. It spun around, faced back toward the beast that had killed its master, and shot forward. The lizards were powerful and fast over short distances, with three razor sharp claws on each foot, and two rows of dagger teeth. The petramander shot up the side of the stalagmite that still hid the scorpoid from Mace’s view, then leapt off toward the monster.

  Mace saw another claw reach up and snare the lizard mid-flight. The petramander thrashed and hissed as the claw tightened, trying to disable or kill it. But petramanders had tough skin. The claw did not manage to penetrate right away. The lizard wrapped its tail around the insect arm and strained to latch on with its jaws as it tore at the arachnid’s arm with its hind claws.

  Motion to his right caused Mace to turn in time to see Krieger jump off the back of the wagon. The Swordmaster raced toward the battle with unnatural speed. Mace leapt down and followed, though much more slowly. By the time he rounded the large stalagmite and got a full view of the fight, the Swordmaster had already drawn his weapons and was sliding below the scorpoid’s forelegs.

  Mace focused on the arm that held the dead guard’s mount. Raising his left hand and clenching it in a fist, he muttered “Fragilis!” as he opened his fingers wide and twisted his wrist. There was no visible burst of magic, but the chitin exoskeleton of the monster’s arm began to make a squeaky, creaking noise. Then cracks began to form near the joint where the claw met the arm.

  As the lizard’s rear legs raked at the arm once again, the cracks widened. The scorpoid screamed in a high, chittery insect-like keening, as with a loud pop, the arm shattered. The petramander dropped to the ground, still gripped in the claw. Which broke apart upon impact. The lizard wasted no time, leaping up to grab hold of another arm with its massive jaws.

  With the weight of the lizard slowing down one arm, the other guard saw an opportunity. He urged his mount toward the arm, ramming his spear into a joint in the chitin armor. He then leapt from his mount, levering the spear to one side with his body weight. Another popping sound could be heard, suggesting he’d dislocated the joint. This was confirmed as the weight of the lizard dragged the end of the arm down at an unnatural angle as the beast screamed again. Its tail whipped forward, the massive foot-long stinger attempting to impale the guard. The drow nimbly leapt to the side and avoided the strike.

  Krieger, now below the scorpoid’s body, moved to his right and targeted the three legs supporting the beast’s left side. His swords a blur, he used both in a crossing motion that penetrated the chitin outer layer and severed one leg cleanly. He quickly moved out from under the monster as he repeated the motion, taking a second leg. The scorpoid tilted and sagged on it’s left side. Attempting to turn and attack Krieger, it’s last remaining leg gave way under the creature’s weight. The giant insect’s torso fell to the cavern floor. It tried to prop itself up using a foreclaw and its remaining left leg, but Krieger was there to remove its last rear leg on that side.

  Now immobilized, the creature was swarmed. Both lizards, free of their riders, were mauling it from the front. The drow guard was attempting to blind it with his spear, while dodging the two remaining foreclaws. Krieger had leapt atop the insect’s back and was hacking at its tail. Even as he tried to disable it, the tail whipped forward, impaling the frenzied lizard that was latched onto the dislocated forearm. The lizard screamed, then instantly went rigid. The poison of the scorpoids contained a neurotoxin that paralyzed its victims.

  Mace elected to help Krieger eliminate the threat of the tail. Raising his right hand, he shouted “Frigus!” and the segmented tail of the scorpoid began to freeze in place. Krieger instantly took advantage of the immobilization, hacking at the joint where the stinger met the tail. After three blows, the stinger and poison sac fell free to roll off the creature’s back to the floor. The threat of the stinger eliminated, Krieger turned and ran up the arachnid’s back. Positioning himself right behind its head, he drove a sword into the gap between armor segments.

  The scorpoid’s keening was cut short as the sword penetrated some vital organ. It began to thrash wildly, it’s tail and legs jerking reflexively. Krieger levered the sword from side to side as he pushed it further into the beast. All at once the creature went completely stiff, then collapsed limply to the floor.

  Removing his sword, Krieger leapt off of the monster. He cleaned his blades with a cloth, then returned them to their scabbards. The remaining guard moved to the injured petramander. He placed his hand on its head, saying something quietly, before slitting its throat, relieving it of the pain from the stinger wound and poison. He then began to skin the beast. Though the meat was no good because of the poison, the skin, claws, and teeth could still be of use. Nothing was wasted in the underground.

  Mace went and picked up the stinger and poison sack. He had plans for both. Krieger had returned to the wagon, so Mace took a moment to loot the monster. He received twenty pieces of scorpoid meat, a stack of ten segments of chitin armor, two giant scorpoid claws, and a ‘purple’ rare item that immediately grabbed his attention. It was a fist-sized red gemstone. He tried his Identify skill on it, and got nothing but question marks. He quickly stowed the item in his inventory, making a note to ask Jervis about it.

  With the looting complete, Mace returned to the wagon, where Krieger was reporting to the drivers. As they climbed back onto their wagon, the remaining rear guard, now back on his mount, took up position behind them. They didn’t pause to bury the dead guard. His partner had gathered his gear and valuables and would return them to his family if he had one. If not, the guard would keep them. The body would be left for the scavengers. Only drow nobility and the very wealthy received formal burials.

  The wagons resumed their journey, continuing across the cavern and exiting into the tunnel without further incident. Over the next four hours they encountered and crossed three more caverns, battling minor monsters such as rock spiders, a small pack of feral pet
ramanders, and one kobold patrol.

  On the last leg of their journey, in a wide tunnel that sloped steadily upward, the wagons halted. The lead driver shouted something in dwarvish, and Griff translated. “Somethin be blockin the path.” The dwarf hopped off the wagon and moved forward, with Mace and Krieger following.

  As they passed the lead wagon, they found the other drivers, all holding torches, grouped together in front of a gap in the tunnel floor. Mace approached and took a look.

  There was a rent in the floor approximately four feet across. It looked as if an earthquake had pulled the tunnel apart. Except that the walls were still intact. Only the floor had a gap in it.

  “What would cause this?” Mace asked aloud, to nobody in particular.

  Griff tossed his torch into the hole. They all watched it descend, falling for several seconds before disappearing. “Aye, it’s a void” he said, as if confirming something. “Might be a mine shaft below, as we be close to Svarthold. Or an underground stream. Maybe a worm tunnel.”

  The caravan leader asked “Any of ye got lumber aboard yer wagons? Somethin we can bridge the gap with? There be another way around, but it’d mean backtrackin’. Add three hours ta our trip.”

  When the dwarves all just shook their heads, Mace volunteered. “I can bridge it, temporarily. Long enough for us to cross.”

  The dwarf nodded his head. “That’d be fine. We can send a crew outta Svarthold to make a real bridge when we get there.”

  Mace motioned for everyone to move back several feet. Pushing both hands out in front of him, he uttered the trigger word “Frigus”. Using the same spell he’d used to block the tunnel back in the Remus’ hideout, he filled the gap with ice. He worked the ice into gaps in the wall, and spread it out across the floor of the tunnel on either side, to give it strength and stability. Shaping it so that it ramped up in front of them, and back down again on the other side.

  “It will last for ten minutes.” Mace informed them. A couple of the dwarves moved out onto the ice when he was done. They stomped, then jumped on it a few times. Declaring it safe, they moved back to their wagons.

  The caravan moved across the ice without incident, and continued on toward Svarthold. Arriving at the city, Mace was surprised at what he saw.

  The tunnel opened up into a massive cavern. The outer walls were so far apart that the only reason Mace could see them was the glow of lights at what he assumed were tunnel entrances. Though it may have begun as a natural formation, the cavern had clearly been expanded by the dwarves. There was a massive central column that rose from floor to ceiling and had to be a quarter mile wide. Around it was a circle of six smaller columns, each spaced about a half mile out from the center. Smaller being a comparative term. Each of the secondary columns was over a hundred yards wide. All of the columns stretched up to support the ceiling, which was maybe 600 feet above the floor.

  Ahead of them beyond the tunnel exit, Mace could see a cleared, flat area a quarter mile wide. Beyond that was an iron gate set into a massive forty-foot high wall that surrounded the city. Mace watched the wall seem to grow tall and more imposing as his wagon approached. The guards at the gate, six dwarves in matte black plate armor, stopped the lead wagon. After a short conversation with the caravan leader, they gave each wagon a cursory inspection, before waving them through.

  Once through the gate, Mace took in the city. It was incredible. Impressive. Larger than Immernacht, it spread out in a two-mile wide circle. Two and three-story stone buildings along roads laid out in a basic wagon-wheel pattern. There was something odd about the city, and it took Mace several minutes to realize what it was. The buildings hadn’t been constructed of stone. They’d been carved from the stone. When the realization hit him, he asked Griff about it.

  “Aye. We dwarves be more at home below the surface. When the first ones arrived in this here cave, they cut holes into the floor ta live in. As the city grow’d, we carved out more and more o’ the cavern. Later we carved out streets. We lower the streets down every thousand years or so, and them buildings get a mite taller. Still, ye’re only see’n the surface. There be ten times as much below!”

  Amazed, Mace could only stare as the wagon made its way up the main street. Eventually they turned to the right and followed a curving side street to a warehouse. Griff pulled his wagon in behind the others, and workers approached to begin unloading. Mace and Krieger hopped off the wagon and stood to one side, taking in the industrious bustle as a dozen dwarves and kobolds made short work of the cargo.

  Griff led the caravan leader over to them a few minutes later. The leader handed them each a small pouch of coin. “Ye both proved yerselves useful on this trip. If’n ye ever wish passage back to the drow city, come see me here. I can always use good guards for me caravans.”

  The two drow nodded their heads to the dwarves, who then turned and departed. Krieger looked around, saying “I suppose our first order of business is to find an inn.”

  Mace just nodded and followed the Swordmaster out of the warehouse. An inn sounded like a great idea. He’d been online for a solid eight hours, and was ready for a rest.

  Krieger, who had been to the city before, led the way. First back the way they had come to the main avenue, then north toward the central column. They passed through two small squares, and continued through a larger square that was filled with market stalls. Mace saw everything from food and drink to clothes, armor, and weapons. There were alchemist stalls, vendors selling carved toys and idols, jewelers, even an enchanter with a glass counter filled with softly glowing items.

  To Mace’s surprise, Krieger led him right up to the main column and into a tunnel that appeared to pass through the base. At the midpoint, he found a series of elevators. Steel cages on steel chains that were raised and lowered via a clever pulley-and-weight system. There were four elevators on either side of the tunnel. Krieger stepped into one, along with a half-dozen dwarves, and Mace followed. They stepped off about two minutes later into a tunnel labeled “17” with the number carved into the wall. Krieger once again led Mace through a tunnel, then a side tunnel, finally arriving at an inn. The sign boasted a drunken ogre, holding a foaming mug high in the air with one hand, and making a rude gesture with the other.

  “This place has good food, decent wine, and clean beds.” Krieger said as he stepped through the door. Mace joined him, stepping up to the bar. They arranged for two rooms, each taking a key and heading upstairs. When they reached the top, Mace said “I want to thank you for allowing me to join you.”

  “You more than earned your keep, Mace.” the old Swordmaster said. “You were a big help in the fight with the scorpoid. And you saved us a lengthy detour with your ice bridge. It is I who should thank you.”

  Mace bowed his head slightly. “I’m tired from the long day. I think I’ll turn in. Will you be going to see the smith you mentioned?”

  Krieger shook his head. “Not tonight. I have some other business in the city. House business.” Mace didn’t bother to ask. More than likely he’d been sent to eliminate a house rival or collect a debt owed to his house. “I expect it will take a good part of the day tomorrow. I’ll be heading over to see the smith around suppertime, if you’d like to join me.”

  Mace smiled. “I certainly would. How about I buy you supper here, and we can go see him after? Say seven bells?” Underground, there was no sun to help one judge the passage of time. A system of magical chimes had been set up by the mages in most cities. The bells would ring once per hour, indicating the time. The bell tone would be higher pitched for morning, and lower pitched for after noon. So three low pitched bells was 3pm.

  “Seven bells it is. I’ll see you then.” Krieger replied. He unlocked his room and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

  Mace stepped a bit further down the hall, unlocking his own door. The room he found was small, but comfortable. A bed large enough to sleep two comfortably, a table with two chairs. There was a dresser with a mirror above it, and a che
st at the base of the bed. The window shutters stood open, and Mace stepped closer to look outside. The wondrous city was spread out below him. From this height he could more clearly make out the size and features of the city. It was beautiful, if functional in nature. Lights were a bit brighter here than in Immernacht, as there were very few drow. And the light had a friendlier yellow glow to it. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of little points of light sparkled in the darkness of the cavern. It was almost like looking up a night sky on the surface.

  Turning to his bed, Mace laid down and closed his eyes, smiling. This city was going to be very interesting to explore! With that thought, he logged off.

  Chapter 7

  The Last Bacon on Earth

  Shari woke with a start. The room was dark, and there was a brief moment of panic before she remembered where she was.

  “Safe. I’m safe.” She said out loud. A sliver of light from the hallway shone under the door, allowing her to get her bearings in the still unfamiliar room. She rose from the bed and made her way to the door. Fumbling along the wall next to the door, she found the light switch and flipped it.

  Blinking her eyes a few times to adjust to the light, she moved to sit back on the bed. A clock on the nightstand said it was nearly 7am. “That can’t be right! No way I slept that long!”. But an urgent need to pee argued otherwise.

  Shari used the bathroom, then took a luxuriously hot shower. She made it a quick one, unsure of the extent of the water supply in the facility. She used some of the shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant she’d snagged from the truck stop. Dressing in the cleanest clothes she had, she unlocked her door and opened it to find a small stack of things on the floor in front of her. She bent to pick it up.