High gloom, p.33
High Gloom, page 33
part #6 of The Bad Guys Series
Karwan looked over at it, and I watched an eyebrow go up.
"Wazzat?" he asked.
"Trying a little magic thing," I replied.
"You need a light?"
"I need the light ball, not the light."
"Wait till we get down," he said, getting back to moving, “Can help with that if'n you need it."
I dismissed the spell, and we were back in motion again, making slow progress climb-walking across the ceiling. Interestingly, we got to a junction where we could change direction. More sets of eyelets went off in three other directions.
Karwan picked the direction he wanted, and we were off.
I'm not exactly sure how long we were on the ceiling — time has a rather fluid sensibility in Vuldranni and doubly so in the Gloom — but it was a long time, and my muscles were exhausted by the time my boots touched the ground again.
Karwan grabbed my rope loops and wrapped them around my pack securely. He did the same with his, and then pulled out a small empty pouch of his own.
"Blackout pouch,” he whispered, handing it to me.
“Blackout?”
I looked inside, and realized there were two additional flaps to put in place, making sure that whatever was inside didn't leak outside.
"Plenty of what we collect out here puts out light," he said. "Never something you want to be seen, light. Collect a glowing 'shroom, got to put it in a blackout pouch.”
“Wow, thanks," I said.
He gave me a nod.
"Do yer magic," he whispered. "And then we're back to moving fast. Got to make the next point before the whispersong."
I really wanted to ask what the whispersong was and why we had to get somewhere before it. Instead, I put a light ball inside the blackout pouch. As advertised, there was no leakage whatsoever from the bag. And it moved with the pouch, just sort of sat in there. Which was a little odd, because the pouch was still weightless — it just had slightly more shape.
Then I started to pump mana into it.
"Ready," I said.
I got a nod from Karwan, and he started jogging once again.
74
It was another hour-plus of jogging, squeezing, climbing, wading, and occasionally swimming. There were myriad obstacles in our way. Lots of water on this leg. Some of it deep, some not, most of it moving. There was really only one section that was very stagnant. Karwan had us wrap our faces before going in, something about the bugs laying eggs in moist spots like mouths or ears. I didn't ask about eyes, but made sure to keep mine as closed as possible.
We had to swim across a river, then climb up a waterfall.
All the while, I was pumping a bit of mana into the ball. Or the bag. I was sort of thinking of it as my mana bag. After a while, it just became an instinctual background activity, sending mana that way. And because the incredible ambient mana recharged me quickly, it also meant I starting pumping more and more mana into the ball as I realized how just much I could pump. Nothing seemed to happen — it didn't seem like I was reaching a breaking point of the spell. Didn't mean there wasn't one, just that I hadn't found it yet.
We got to a huge shaft (ha), and paused.
"Going up here," Karwan said, getting his climbing gear ready again. He didn't pull off the rope loops, but he did get out rope, and tied me to himself. "Big climb. If you’ve got any stamina potions, this'd be a good place for 'em. We’re going maybe, half a mile straight up. Bit of time, if'n you can climb quickly, help us later."
"Why?" I asked.
"Whispersong is comin'."
"What is—”
But he was already climbing.
I shook my head, and followed along.
There weren't the obvious placed handholds like before. This was more along the lines of free-climbing. Which we were essentially doing. We were only tied to each other, not any spot on the rock face. If one of us fell, it was up to the other to hold onto the wall. So, you know, very totally safe. I was a big believer in the 'Do-Not-Fall' technique.
The climb seemed to go on forever.
Especially when we disturbed a colony of bats. They were roosting in a small off-shoot of the shaft, and when we went by, we made enough noise that they came out in force, a cloud of furry bodies on flappy wings that shrieked all around us.
"Just ignore 'em," Karwan shouted. "They'll get them bugs off'n you."
"What bugs?" I shouted back, but didn't get a reply.
Sure enough, I started to feel very slight tugs from the bats as they pulled little things off me. All over me. Feet, hands, arms, legs, plenty in my hair. None on my face, thankfully, since I think would have been too much for me to take. I acted as a moving buffet for a while before the bat attention tapered off, and we were left alone again.
Finally, Karwan went from vertical climbing to horizontal, and we moved around the shaft (ha), getting to a different passageway. He dropped onto the small ledge, and took a few steps in before sitting down, breathing hard.
We rested for a moment. Then, without a word between us, we were back to jogging. Following Karwan through the Gloom was a stark reminder of how difficult it was to navigate underground. Making our way through small passages that I didn't even see until he pointed them out, especially passages that weren't at ground level. Several times, we had to climb up ten or twenty feet to scoot through some small tunnel over to a different cave. That was never something I'd even thought to do, and it certainly wasn't something I'd seen Denitza try. Traversing the Gloom to get the blood crystals would have been impossible without my guide— I had no more doubts as to his worth.
We took another momentary break to eat some dried food, drink a bit, and crouch in silence. A large creature of some kind passed near enough that small rocks tumbled from their perches.
"Worm," Karwan said when I looked at him. "Some color or other. Seems it's been sated, otherwise it'd stop and break bread with us. And by that I mean—”
"It'd eat us."
"Ding."
I frowned at him. ‘Ding’ was not the sort of response I'd expected.
As soon as the rumble passed, we were back on our feet and jogging through the passageways and tunnels. That is, until we came to a massive crevasse. I couldn't see the bottom, the top, or either end, just the other side. It was like a great cut in the middle of the planet.
Karwan pulled a contraption from his pack, and put together a crossbow of sorts. A bit like a miniature ballista.
He launched a heavy iron bolt across the crevasse, and it hammered into the stone wall, pulling a rope behind it.
"Quickly," he said, securing the other end to our side.
He jumped up, grabbed the rope, and hauled himself, hand-over-hand across the chasm.
I followed.
More than any other time, he watched me and urged me on faster and faster.
I did my best, thankful for all the hours practicing rings as a kid, and dropped onto the other side so fast I almost fell over the edge. He grabbed onto my hand and pulled me to stability, then sliced through the rope. He ran along the very slight ledge until we got to a small opening, so small, he had to drop to his belly and wriggle in.
"Hurry," he said.
I did, hurrying behind Karwan, though having no idea why.
I dropped to the ground, and wriggled along for long enough that I started to really feel the weight of the world above pushing down on me. Eventually we got to a small room, something large enough we could sit up in.
He grabbed my hands and ripped me into the room, and then pushed me into a seated position.
"Get your cloak over your body and your head," he said.
I did what he asked.
"Might be safe to look out once the whispersong starts, but I leave that to you," he said. "I'll be hidin'."
75
Soft at first, I heard a tune being sung somewhere. Or maybe not being sung. Played? Made? Music of some sort reverberated out from the small passage we'd crawled through. It was haunting and beautiful, and as it swelled in volume, I found myself becoming lost in it. A hard hand gripped at my arm, pulling me back down to sit. I hadn't even known I'd gotten up. The arm didn't let go, holding me in place as the music swirled around and around, ebbing until I thought it had finished before rising to crescendos that were painful to hear.
And then it was over, just like that.
Karwan ripped the cloak off my face, and stared into my eyes, then looked over at my ears.
His lips moved, but I couldn't hear anything.
Karwan frowned, and then pulled out a small vial of healing potion.
I held up my hand, and, instead of using his potion, healed myself. Sounds returned.
"My fault," he said. "Forgot to tell you to put cotton in yer ears. Got a bit of blood there."
I ran my hand along my neck. It came away slick with blood.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Whispersong."
"Okay, but—”
"Can't tell you exactly. Comes through that crevasse every three days, round about this time, give or take a minute. If you keep your eyes open, you can see lights coming through. I’ve heard, but can't confirm, that if whatever it is that makes that song sees you, it'll eat you from the inside out. People what get left in the crevasse are empty husks when we find 'em again. Anything and everything what can be eaten is eaten. Or taken away. Not sure. Metal is pretty much all that remains."
"So it's still a mystery?"
"Aye, but it's not one I've any interest in solving. Nor anyone who's got a desire to live. Some things are best left in darkness, you ask me. The next stretch is easier — give us a bit of time to rest while we walk."
He gave me one more look-over, and then helped me to my feet, only for me to have to get back on my knees to crawl through the next section.
But he was right. The next few hours were more like a hike than what we'd gone through before, though there were definitely more flora and fauna deviations than I felt necessary. We came across a small group of kobolds while we climbed over a nest of eight-legged lizard-looking things. They smiled and gave us the right of way before scurrying off on their own.
"So many kobolds heading north," Karwan said the next time we were safe. "Got to wonder what's driving 'em."
"Or pulling them."
"Aye, could be, could be."
"Did you ever think to ask?"
"Bah, kobolds're more likely to lie than talk."
"Hasn't been my experience."
"You know kobolds? Had experiences with them before?"
"I have. I mean, not, like, intimately, but I've got a few kobold friends. A decent-size group lives in my building back home."
"Ah. Well then, perhaps I stand corrected, or you stand deceived."
"Time will tell, I guess."
"Huh," he snorted, then stalked off.
And on we merrily stumbled.
Finally, though, we got to a small cavern, about the size of a one-bedroom apartment, and Karwan stopped.
"We're here," he said.
"Where are the bloodcrystals?" I asked, not seeing anything remotely crystal-like.
"Next cavern," he said.
"Okay," I said, stepping past him and trying to keep going.
He grabbed my arm.
"Hold on there," he said. "You need to see what else is there first."
Karwan led me through a small passage, and then he got down and crawled the last few yards until we came out on a small ledge, about six feet long and three feet wide.
"Oh," I said. It was immediately clear why no one else had been willing to gather bloodcrystals.
76
We were high up on the wall of a large cavern, perhaps fifty or sixty feet from the floor. The roof of the cavern was another fifty-some feet above us. I'd guess the cavern was between a hundred and two hundred yards wide, on average, and at least six hundred yards long. Big place. And mostly open. At least, it would be if it wasn't so infested.
The entire floor of the cavern was filled with moving humanoids of various sizes and shapes. Peering at them, my heart sank as I realized what I was looking at. Skeletons. Zombies. Ghouls. Ghasts. The list continued on. It was a vast horde of the undead, milling about around the entire cavern. A bit distant from our little perch, I could see larger undead. Rotting behemoths that towered over their brethren. Towers of bones tied together with arcane powers. It was a collection that would have impressed and and maybe even scared the corpse king. An even greater concentration of undead than I'd seen in The Shade, back in Glaton.
Karwan tapped my shoulder and mimed moving backward. Then he crawled back into the other chamber. I followed.
"So, bloodcrystals," he said with a smile. "There you go."
"Any ideas on how to actually get them?"
"No. My suggestion, rather, is getting us out of here so we needn't be eaten by anythings down there."
"You mean just leave right now?"
"Aye. Leave while the leaving's good. Whispersong means we'll have a clearer path back."
"I can't leave without the bloodcrystals."
"You cannot think you can get them!"
"Where in the cavern are they?"
“Smack damn in the middle. Growing out of the floor."
"I didn't see anything like that in there."
"They was right under where those great big hulking things stood. Get those things to move and you'll find 'em."
"How do I harvest them?"
"With your fingers. Pick 'em up, put 'em in a bag."
"Do they damage easily?'
"I mean, they're crystals. I wouldn't beat 'em down with a hammer and expect them to not to crush, but they'd survive most everything else. What in the hells are you thinking of doing?"
“Harvesting bloodcrystals."
"I'm telling you, you will die."
"I'll die without 'em. Might as well die trying to get them instead of dying because I was afraid of dying."
"You're mad."
"Seems to be going around."
"You cannot begin to think I'm about to step foot inside that cavern."
"Our deal was to get me here and get me back, right?"
"Ayuh, which I done."
"Half. You got me here."
"Won't survive to get back if'n you go in there."
"If I die, you head on back. If I don't, you guide me."
"If you survive, which I don't know how you're going to do, you'll have to deal with that whole lot coming after us."
"You think they can follow?"
"They're the undead — what else do they have to do? Not like they'll need to stop to eat. Or care about anything they come across. They'll cut a path of death right to Gloomguard."
"Guess we should just kill them all," I said with a smile.
Karwan shook his head, his eyes going very wide. But, true to the deal, he took off his pack and set it on the ground.
"I'll give it you," he said, "you certainly aren't lacking for courage."
"Well, when your options are death or death, kind of easier to pick a path, eh?"
"I suppose. Luck with you."
"And you."
I crawled back out to the ledge, and started planning how I was going to do some mass re-murdering.
77
The one major advantage I had was in the blackout pouch at my side. I had a relatively ridiculous amount of mana hanging from my belt, and I could certainly throw down, in a magical sense, should the need arise.
But I felt like I had forgotten my roots somewhat, becoming a little too fond of slinging spells and not doing quite enough sneaking and peeping. Even though sneaking and peeping took a lot of time. I could try and sneak all the way around the cavern, climbing along the walls, to see if I could find an undead ruler somewhere who was controlling this mob. Or, I could try and sneak across the ceiling and then Mission Impossible it down to the where the bloodcrystals supposedly were, harvest them in secret that way. Both would be a lengthy process.
Conversely, I could do what I'd done with the goblins and make my own little safe passage by dropping tactical fireballs. But that required a certain amount of will to survive in my opponent, and also a fear of pain. Zombies would likely just charge through the fire in their zeal to rip me apart.
There was, of course, the nuclear option: Summon Outsider Guardian. But that could also destroy the world. Which would somewhat nullify the whole point in going through all this trouble to begin with.
Nothing really struck my fancy — certainly not in any way that made me ready to risk everything to pull the plan off. I needed to be smarter. Even with my extra mana, I didn't have the firepower to blast apart the horde. Not given how incredibly large it was. And since I could see exits from the cavern in three places, not including our little ledge, the horde could be even larger than I anticipated.
What I needed to do was play against the weaknesses of the undead. They were stupid. Well, mindless, largely. Probably better to consider them killing machines. Karwan was right about one thing: if they caught our scent, it was very likely they'd follow us all the way to Gloomguard. Which would be bad, despite my rather glib response to Karwan.
Maybe I could use their willingness to chase in my favor. Run a little rabbit in front of the pack of dogs, get them riled up, and then, lead them on a merry little hunt. I finally had a good idea.
78
I climbed laterally along the cave wall until I came to a fairly unpopulated spot down below. I’d have to pull off a number of spells all at once, so I thought through them all, got them lined up in the way I needed in my mind, and pulled some mana from my ball. Then I dropped into their midst.
Immediately, I cast all my spells, one of which was my shield, and I pumped bunch of mana into them. Basically as much as I dared.
Then I started walking to the bloodcrystals.
The undead around me took a second to realize what was happening, that a living being was now moving amongst them. The first to see me was a skeleton. It raised its rusty blade and attempted to assault me.
