The Hidden Realm: Book 04 - Ennodius (24 page)

“We will find out in due time I am sure,” said Ascilius gloomily. “For now, we must deal with the dragon we know about. Despite the danger, I still wish to search this level. I doubt that we will find any survivors, but we can at least replenish our food. All of the inns and storerooms are located on this level of the city.”

Ascilius suddenly fell silent, for it seemed to him that he heard the click of claws on stone far down the passageway behind him. Elerian heard the sound, too. Concerned that the red dragon was still following them, he began to think furiously about what he might do to break their scent trail.

“If I were above ground, I would know what to do,” he thought to himself in frustration, “but here, in this stony wasteland, how am I to break up our trail?”

A sudden image of the balconies they had seen on the main boulevards suddenly appeared in Elerian’s mind.

“Ascilius, is there a shop nearby that sells rope?” he asked suddenly.

The Dwarf, who was listening intently behind him for more sounds of pursuit, started slightly at the unexpected sound of Elerian’s voice.

“There is a place that sells cordage at the next corner, but I do not see how rope will help us. We need to think of a way to break our scent trail or we are done for,” he replied.

“There is no time to explain now,” said Elerian who thought he heard the scrape of claws on stone again in the darkness behind them. Was that slight sound the snuffling of nostrils? He began to run again, and in short order, he and Ascilius arrived at the next intersection, where their small service tunnel crossed one of the larger streets. Ascilius immediately ran into the shop on the corner on their left, followed by Elerian. They found the usual disorder inside, but Elerian was able to salvage a thick rope about sixty feet long from the debris on the floor. From the ceiling, he ripped down a sturdy iron light bracket, snapping the thin chain from which it was suspended with powerful tug of his sinewy right arm. Shaped rather like a three-armed grappling hook, it was perfect for his needs.

“Let us go to the second floor,” he said to a mystified Ascilius after he had procured everything that he needed.

Ascilius balked at once. “If the dragon finds us, we will be trapped there,” he objected.

“If my plan works, we will be safe enough,” replied Elerian confidently.

He ran lightly into the back room of the shop and ascended the stairs to the next level, followed by a grumbling Ascilius. Elerian ran through the apartment at the top of the stairs until he stood in the parlor that fronted the large street in front of the shop. Set in the far wall of the room were two large broken windows with a set of open, double doors between them.

“Excellent,” said Elerian as he ran across the room and stepped out onto the balcony that lay beyond the doors. Six feet deep and twelve feet across, the stone balcony was edged with a sturdy waist high iron rail. Twenty feet below the floor of the balcony was the hard stone sidewalk that ran in front of the shop. Almost thirty feet away, on the far side of the street, was another balcony that was a twin to the one he was standing on.

“Now comes the difficult part,” thought Elerian to himself, fastening the end of his rope to an eye forged into the stem of his improvised grappling hook.

“You will never get that in place,” said Ascilius critically, as he began to gain some insight into Elerian’s plan. “The distance is too great.”

Ignoring Ascilius, Elerian raised his right hand and cast a sending spell at the light bracket. With his third eye, he watched a small golden orb fly from his fingertips. When it struck and enveloped the bracket with a film of golden light, the iron fixture instantly disappeared, reappearing above the center of the balcony on the far side of the boulevard. There was a faint ring of iron as the bracket fell five feet to the stone floor of the gallery. Trying not to look smug, Elerian carefully pulled on his end of the rope until his improvised grappling hook was firmly lodged on the top rail of the iron fence fastened to the rim of the balcony.

“That was cheating,” observed Ascilius, looking impressed in spite of himself.

“You are just jealous of my superior magic,” said Elerian as he pulled his rope tight. With a parting spell, he trimmed off all but a three-foot length, which he wrapped around the top rail of the balustrade in front of him. Casting a transformation spell, Elerian turned the rope into a hard, almost woody substance that hung stiffly between the two balconies.

“Now what?” asked Ascilius uneasily.

His worst fears were realized when Elerian leaped lightly to the top of the rail and ran several feet out onto the hardened rope, which easily bore his weight.

“You might as well ask me to fly across,” said Ascilius dourly. “I cannot walk on that thin strand.”

“You will not have to,” replied Elerian, running lightly across the stiff rope until he stood on the rail on the far side.

After leaping lightly down to the balcony, Elerian turned and raised his right hand, casting the same calling spell on Ascilius that he had used on Durio in the Broken Lands. With his third eye, he watched a small golden orb fly from his fingers. Skillfully aimed, it struck Ascilius squarely on his broad chest, enveloping the Dwarf in a golden film of light. Instantly, Ascilius disappeared, reappearing by Elerian’s side. While the Dwarf carefully felt himself all over to make sure that all of his bodily parts had arrived with him, Elerian transformed the rope back to its natural state. Flexible again, it slipped from the railing on the far side of the passageway, and Elerian quickly coiled it up.

“That will set a pretty puzzle for the red dragon,” he said to Ascilius. “If it tracks us to the first balcony, it will think we have grown wings and flown off into the city.”

“We will see,” said Ascilius gloomily. “Do not forget how clever these creatures are.”

Entering the apartment before them, they descended the stairs inside, exiting the building through its back door into another service tunnel. Turning left, they resumed their journey into the city. They stopped often listen, but there was no sound of pursuit behind them, only a deep silence.

“Either my ruse worked or the dragon has returned to the main ramp where we must pass sooner or later,” thought Elerian to himself. He was about to speak to Ascilius when the sharp click of claws on stone broke the silence only a short distance behind them.

“No weapons and nowhere to run to,” whispered Ascilius grimly. “We are dragon bait for sure this time.”

THE DENTIRE

Ascilius looked desperately down the passageway ahead of them, but every door within view had been forced open and damaged. Trying not to make any sudden moves that would goad the creature behind them into attacking, he and Elerian continued to walk down the tunnel, listening intently for the scrape of claws on stone behind them. They both tensed when, they heard a faint snuffling sound behind them, as if something was testing the air for scent.

Focusing his mind, Elerian prepared to cast a killing spell. It was unlikely to strike a fast moving creature like the dragon, but it was all he could think to do. Several hundred feet behind them, a deep bubbling growl welled up from the darkness that rose up like a dark wall just beyond the range of their mage lights. Elerian whirled around, right hand upraised to cast his spell. He stayed his hand when he saw the silvery gleam of two eyes in the dark, for they were too small and close together to belong to the red dragon.

Ascilius took a step forward with an expectant look on his face, at the same time emitting a strange, high-pitched whistle. A moment later, an extraordinary creature stepped out of the darkness into the dim pool of mage light that surrounded them. Elerian was sure that it was a dog, but he had never seen its like before. The creature’s head was huge and its jaws massive. It head stood at least four feet above the ground, and even though its belly was pinched with hunger, its bones were massive, and great ropy muscles were draped over its stout frame. Short, sleek fur of a light tan color covered its powerful body, but its sides were barred with thin black stripes like one of the great cats that lived in the far southeastern lands. An old burn mark covered a good portion of its rib cage on its right side.

Fixing its small, fierce eyes intently on Ascilius, the dog approached the Dwarf. Despite the pronounced limp in its right front leg, it walked with a light, springy step that seemed out of place in such a massive creature. Elerian held his breath when Ascilius slowly held out his left hand, palm side up. The dog carefully sniffed Ascilius's hand with its broad wet nose before gravely licking the Dwarf's open palm. It then turned its oddly intelligent gaze on Elerian, who felt at once that he was being judged.

Elerian looked long into the dog's fearless brown eyes with a steady, gray-eyed gaze. Apparently satisfied with what it saw, the dog abruptly sat down and yawned as if it was weary. The white teeth suddenly exposed in its powerful jaws were short, stout, and exceedingly sharp, built for shearing rather than tearing.

“This,” said Ascilius impressively to Elerian, “is a dentire.”

“He looks like he could take a hand off in one bite,” replied Elerian. “Hungry as he looks, I am surprised you took a chance and offered him yours.”

“It was my left hand,” said Ascilius coolly. For the first time, Elerian noticed that there were beads of sweat on the Dwarf's brow. “It was a risk, for these creatures have an uncertain temperament away from the side of their master, but he will be a great help to us if he is willing to accompany us,” said Ascilius.

Turning around, he began walking again, followed by Elerian. The dentire fell in behind them without being called. When he glanced at Ascilius, Elerian noted that the Dwarf seemed more at ease.

“With this dentire by our side, we will have some warning now if we come near the dragon again,” said Ascilius to Elerian, as if he had sensed his thoughts.

They both fell silent as they cautiously resumed their explorations, depending on the dentire to warn them of any approaching danger. As on the second level of the city, they found that room after room had been broken into and plundered. There were no workshops, but they found many inns scattered amongst shops where finished goods or food had been sold. All the meats in the storerooms of the inns and food shops were gone, as well as most of the other provisions.

“Between the dragons and the dentire, everything seems to have been eaten up,” thought Elerian to himself, but they did eventually find some dried fruit, cheese, chestnuts, flour, and honey sealed in glazed earthenware jars and stored on a high shelf where they were not easily accessible. There was also found a small cask of wine and several jars containing a hard biscuit that Elerian found rather tasteless, but which Ascilius claimed would keep for a long time.

“We could use them for weapons in a pinch,” said Elerian as he hefted one of the dense, rock hard biscuits. I am sure they would dent even a dragon's scales.”

“You may be glad to have them a few days from now,” said Ascilius sternly as they both filled their empty packs to the bursting point with the food stores they had found. Ascilius tucked the wine cask protectively under his right arm, carrying it with him until they finally found a shop with iron doors that they could bar. The store appeared to have been a place where jewelry was made and was well plundered, almost every item in it torn apart in the search for valuables.

After barring and locking the doors, Ascilius and Elerian climbed the narrow stone stairway that led to the second floor. There, they found an apartment with the usual arrangements: a kitchen, a bathroom with running water, a sitting room, and two small bedrooms. After they had washed and refreshed themselves, Elerian hung a thick blanket over the one window in the outside wall. Ascilius, meanwhile, righted a table and two chairs which had survived the destruction of the apartment relatively unscathed.

“Let us eat before we rest,” he said wearily to Elerian. Neither one of them had any idea how much time had passed since their last meal, but they were both very hungry. While Elerian set out biscuits, cheese, dried apples, and raisins from their packs onto plates that he had found in a cupboard, Ascilius filled two large, chipped mugs with wine.

Although he was obviously starving, the dentire did not seem much interested in the food that was being laid out. Lying motionless with his great head on his paws on the floor near the table, he stared blankly straight ahead, a look of sadness in his dark eyes.

 “Living under the shadow of the dragon in this great empty tomb of a city has taken its toll on him,” thought Elerian to himself. “He looks as if he has lost the will to live.”

Cutting a generous portion of cheese from a large wheel, Elerian placed it on a third plate along with several of the biscuits they had found. He set the plate on the floor near the dentire’s head, but the dog ignored it.

“You must eat,” said Elerian gently. “All of us in this room have suffered great losses, but we must go on as best we can.”

The dentire raised its head and cocked it to one side, appearing to consider his words. Finally, it licked the cheese. The taste seemed to awaken its hunger, for it wolfed down the wedge in a few bites. Elerian then watched in amazement as the dog easily crunched the hard biscuits between its powerful jaws.

“What power it has in its mouth,” he thought to himself as sat down at the table to eat his own meal. Elerian supped sparingly, limiting himself to one glass of wine, but Ascilius ate heartily and made serious inroads on the contents of the keg.

“I am done in,” he said at last to Elerian in a mellow, tired voice, his face flushed from the strong vintage he had consumed. “I must rest a bit even if Eboria and her whole brood come knocking at the door.” Retiring to one of the bedrooms, he lay down on a bed with his blankets and cloak wrapped around him.

Elerian tidied up while Ascilius slept. The dentire lay on its left side now, watching him with its fearless brown eyes as he cleared the table and washed the dishes and cups they had used.

“It is a shame you cannot talk,” said Elerian to the dog. “You could at least tell us your name and history.”

Raising its head, the dog suddenly said in a deep, rough voice, “I can speak as well as any Elf or Dwarf although I often choose not to. My name is Tonare.”

Elerian, who had started and nearly dropped the dish he was drying, stared at the dentire in surprise.

“Why did you not speak up before?” he asked.

“It is best to be cautious among strangers,” replied the dog. “Now that I have been in your company for a time, I feel that I can let down my guard. I smell no fear in you or your companion, and your voices ring true in my ears, free of lies or deceptions.”

Lowering his head, Tonare suddenly whined involuntarily, for the motion had disturbed the injury in his side.

“How did you come by that burn?” asked Elerian.

“The red dragon gave it to me when I tried to save my master,” replied the dentire. Dragons are one of the few creatures that I cannot overcome. Their scales are too hard for even my teeth.”

“Let me heal your injury for you,” said Elerian. “I see that it still causes you to limp.”

“It does not matter,” said Tonare, indifferently. “My master is dead, and I shall soon follow him. I no longer wish to live.”

Raising his head, the dentire suddenly uttered a long, plaintive howl that echoed eerily in every corner of the apartment. Ascilius straight away burst out of his bedroom. There was a wild look in his dark eyes, and his hair and beard all disordered. Elerian noticed that his left eyelid was twitching again.

“Have the dragons found us?” Ascilius asked groggily, for his wits were still clouded by the wine he had drunk.

“There is no danger,” said the dentire to Ascilius. “The grief that I have held in so long slipped beyond my control for a moment. I did not mean to disturb your rest.”

Ascilius did not seem at all surprised to hear the dentire speak. “You must not do that again,” he said sternly. “That howl could have led the red dragon right to us.”

Tonare accepted the rebuke in silence. Grumbling to himself, Ascilius went back to bed. Elerian, meanwhile, knelt by the dentire.

“You must excuse Ascilius,” he said, his eyes gleaming with laughter. “He is a bit high strung you know.”

“With an Elf for a companion, that does not surprise me,” said Tonare gravely. “The Eirians are notorious for their capricious natures.”

“How do you know that I am an Elf?” asked Elerian quizzically.

“My eyes may deceive me, but my nose never lies,” replied Tonare. “I cannot see past the illusion that covers you, but even after all this time, I remember well the scent of an Elf.”

“Are you that old?” asked Elerian in surprise.

“I remember back even into the times before the Great War,” replied Tonare.

“Well, you are only half right ancient one,” said Elerian with a slight smile. “I am only part Elf. What the other part may be no one seems to know. Now, with your permission, I will heal this old wound.”

Pushing aside the thought that Tonare could tear him to pieces in an instant if he became upset, Elerian gently laid his left hand on the dentire’s half-healed burn. He was surprised to find that the dog's flesh was almost as hard as stone beneath the ridged scar tissue that covered his side.

“We dentire are hard like Trolls,” said Tonare, guessing Elerian's thought. “Teeth, claws, and weapons will not penetrate deeply into our flesh, but we have no defense against fire.”

Sending out a healing spell into the wound, Elerian watched with his magical third eye as a flow of golden light issued from his fingertips, blanketing the disfigured flesh beneath them. While the spell healed the wound, his mind harkened back over the years to the time he had healed Carbo, his foster grandfather’s faithful dog, of a massive wound inflicted by a lupin.

“I miss you both,” thought Elerian sadly to himself as he pictured Balbus and Carbo in his mind as he had last seen them, old but still hale. Pushing aside his memories, he returned his attention to the task at hand. When he was done, pink, healed flesh had replaced the ridged scar on Tonare’s side.

“I do not think the fur will grow back,” said Elerian regretfully. “There are limits to my powers.”

“It is good enough,” said the dentire, rising and stretching. “At least the limp is gone. I can fight properly now.”

“Are you a changeling?” asked Elerian curiously as he stood up, for in his experience, most of the animals he had encountered that could talk had once been people of some sort.

“No,” replied the dentire. “My race came from Outside. There are not many of us, for we have few young ones, but we live for a long time. For this reason we choose to live among the Dwarves, who are also long lived and have a sober temperament that is suited to our own. We pick one master and stay with him until we die. It was a good life here,” he said sadly, “until the dragons came.”

“What happened after Eboria arrived?” asked Elerian.

“With the help of her dragonets, she destroyed all of the ramp gates, leaving the entire city open to her and her offspring. When the people of the city realized that there was no place that was safe from the dragons, there was widespread panic at first. Then, the king slowly restored order. He ordered the small ramp doors locked, forcing the small dragons to use the main ramp when they wished to move from one level to another. Then, while small groups of brave Dwarves created diversions to draw the attention of the dragons, he sent all the survivors down the smaller ramps to the stables where there is a doorway to the castella that stands behind the mountain.”

“How many were saved?” asked Elerian, thinking of the skeletons piled high in the ramp chamber of the second level.

“That I do not know,” replied the dentire, “for no one came back to give any report.

“Why did you remain behind?” asked Elerian curiously.