Chapter 30 - Tunnel Rats

Hump’s heart thundered. Footsteps beat behind them, growing closer with every passing moment. Already, he could feel himself starting to panic. There was no way out. He, Bud, and Celaine brought up the rear of the column, dozens of injured villagers standing between them and safety. They moved as quickly as they could, chased by the harrowing echoes of the force that pursued them, and the sound of Vamir clearing the path of undead at the front.

Hump heard something snarl in his ear. He whirled around, staff raised overhead, and whispered the incantation for light. It flared brighter than normal, wizardfire not suited to such weak spells, the crystal focus shining white. He directed it at the darkness behind him.

Nothing. He told himself they were just echoes, but his gut told him they were close, and that they were coming for them.

“How much further is it?” Bud asked, using his good arm against the wall to help him walk. He was breathing heavily, his face pale enough to make Hump concerned. He’d drunk his potion of Second Lifewhich had stopped the bleeding, but that wasn’t a long-term solution.

“We passed the last of my chalk markers back there,” Hump said. “It’s a straight path back to the first chamber with the cages. At least we won’t get lost.” Echoed snarls interrupted that moment of optimism and he glanced nervously over his shoulder. “It’s just a shame about the company.”

Bud nodded. “Any idea of their numbers?” he asked Celaine.

She glanced over her shoulder again, searching the darkness. “Too many for us to fight.”

Hump stared ahead of him, and his stomach dropped. He could hardly see past the first handful of villagers that lined the tunnels ahead of them. Burdened by the wounded, they were too slow. They’d passed several smaller side passages along the way; gods knew how many more there were ahead of them. Each of them led downward, and each of them was another potential route for the kobolds to attack.

“It can’t be much further,” he said softly, as much for himself as for the others. “Once we reach the first prison changer, we can figure out a new plan with Vamir.” They would still have to make it through the boiling pools and more tunnels before they reached the forward fortification.

“No,” Celaine whispered, quiet enough so the villagers couldn’t hear. She slowed her pace, falling behind and making Hump and Bud stop with her. “We need something now. Can you bring down the tunnel?”

“They’re close?” Bud asked.

She nodded.

“Shit,” Hump said. He pressed a hand against the tunnel wall and felt the dungeon’s essence within it. Even if he had time, he wasn’t sure he could bring it down. The wizardfire that still coursed through him filled him with its strength, but the spells he’d cast in the kobold village had used up much of its power. They were too deep, and the dungeon had built its walls thick. “I’d need runes and time to even stand a chance, and we’d be stranding Kassius down there with no way back up.”

“I don’t think he’s coming back,” Celaine hissed.

“I still can’t do it,” Hump said. “Not even if I had a fresh vial of wizardfire.”

“Then there’s no choice,” Bud said. “You two go ahead, I’ll hold them off. I can at least buy you some time.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Celaine snapped.

“You can barely keep up with a bunch of wounded old ladies let alone fight off a bloody horde,” Hump said, pushing him forward. “One of them’s got two broken legs and she’s still faster than you.”

Bud groaned as he was forced to keep moving. “To be fair…” he panted. “She’s being carried on a stretcher.”

“You should have thought of that before you decided to be so inconveniently big,” Hump said. “Alas, this is the world we live in. Now get moving.” Hump searched the shadows behind them nervously. “You never know, they might not find us.”

Bud managed to laugh, then cringed from the pain of the movement. Yeah, that tonic wasn’t doing all that much about the pain. Hump had removed the arrow from his shoulder and wrapped it tightly, combined with Second Life, it was enough to keep him going. But they’d been walking the tunnels for almost an hour now; the wound was taking its toll.

“Don’t go all giggly on us now,” Hump growled. “Wouldn’t that be an embarrassing way to get yourself killed?” He held his staff up and directed light behind them again, searching for anything that might be sneaking up on them. Still clear. Then an idea struck him. “Do either of you still have any crystal light left?”

“I’ve used mine,” Bud said.

“I’ve still got one,” Celaine said, pulling it out of her pocket and holding it out to him.

“Hold onto it,” Hump said. He took out the two he had in his potion pouch. “How’s your throw, Celaine?”

“Better than yours, I’m sure,” she said. “Why?”

Hump handed her the vials. “Crystal light produces a bright flash when shattered. Shake them hard, then throw them at the kobolds. Make sure you’re not staring when they explode.”

“Will that even work against the undead?” Bud asked. “They didn’t seem concerned with the arrows through their eyes.”

The sounds were getting closer. Tapping footsteps, snarls and clicks and shrieks that made Hump’s heart thump. The undead kobolds didn’t make sounds like those.

“Those aren’t undead,” Hump said. “The only dead salamander’s we’ve seen were the two we took out yesterday, and we removed their heartstones. They were probably trying to cut off our retreat when we were attacked. I don’t imagine they were too happy to find their village had been attacked while they were gone.”

“And you think a bright light will stop them?” Celaine asked.

“I think it will slow them down,” Hump said. “They live underground. Their eyes will be more sensitive than ours.” He glanced at the villagers ahead of them. There was one other option; they could force their way to the front. With so many bodies between them and the kobolds, they’d have all the time they’d need. The part of himself that he hated told him to voice it. Now that he was afraid, the coward within him was louder than ever.

You have no place here, it told him. You’re a hedge wizard, a man of the coin. It’s not your job to sacrifice yourself for people, that’s what the Chosen are for. The gods didn’t choose you so that’s not your burden to carry. It’s hard enough just to take care of yourself, let alone other people.

He shoved those thoughts deep down inside of him. Whether he was Chosen or not, he had the power to help people here, and he had friends that were counting on him.

“This is the only idea I have,” Hump said softly. “If it doesn’t work… well, we’ll just have to figure out what to do next when the time comes.”

“It’s as good a plan as any I’ve got,” Celaine said. “And the best Bud could think of was to act as a human shield.”

Bud snorted. “I never claimed to be the brains of this operation.”

They continued up the tunnel. The beat of footsteps grew louder, and soon Hump heard the familiar clicking tongue of the kobolds.

“They’re coming,” Celaine said.

Hump glanced back over his shoulder. In the shadows, he caught the yellow glint of salamander eyes. It snarled and launched forward at a sprint. “Celaine!” Hump yelled in a panic.

He saw the vial flying in time to turn away and close his eyes. Even through his eyelid, the flash was as bright it was as if he were staring at the blazing sun. Behind him, shrieks and squeals erupted as the salamander reared back. Hump glanced back again to see the creature go back in a tangle of thrashing limbs. In the dying light of the potion, he caught sight of kobolds behind it, cramped together in the narrow space of the tunnel, filling it completely. Their red scales glinted in the light, too many for him to count at a glance. The panicked salamander blocked their path, forcing them back. Alarmed shrieks and snarls filled the tunnel.

“Gods above,” Bud muttered.

“Don’t bother,” Hump said. “They’re never here when you bloody need them. Run!”

It didn’t take long for them to catch up to the villagers. Behind them, the salamander had regained its footing and its footsteps stomped closer, egged on by the shouting kobolds that brought up the rear behind it. It made Hump’s heart thunder. He clenched his fist around his staff, trying to supress the tremble that threatened to overwhelm him as they drew closer.

“What are you waiting for?” Hump growled when he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You gave me the vials,” Celaine said. “Now trust me.”

Hump clenched his jaw. A shiver ran down his spine as the lead salamander drew close once more. He held his staff tightly in his hand, ready to whirl on the creature if it got to close, and blast it back or shield its assault. Just as his nerves were reaching his limit, Celaine feigned a throw. The salamander squealed and startled back, stumbling. Waiting for the next explosion. Clearly the kobolds lacked the patience, as they poked and prodded the creature with their spears, driving it onward. It snapped at them, but when its protests were only met with angry clicks and spears, it staggered forward.

The moment it turned, Celaine tossed the next vial directly into its face. The tunnel exploded with light. The creature let loose a vicious snarl of pain, and Hump heard its heavy body bashing into the walls in its panic. Kobolds yelped and shrieked. When Hump next looked back, he saw the creature clawing at its eyes. Behind it, the kobolds closest to the creature had been knocked to the ground and lay on the ground, a chorus of panicked groans.

A second salamander scrambled over their bodies without a care. Watching the creature, Hump was once more reminded of an overexcited puppy. The big eyes, excited snarl that revealed its teeth, the lapping tongue that extended from its mouth. A kobold rode on its back, a long spear in its hand held like a lance. It roared a battle cry as it charged that Hump felt to his very core.

He took aim with his staff, drawing at the nearby stones on the tunnel floor and gathering into a cluster in the air. Bronze light trailed them, and where they gathered, it shone between the gaps like streaks of magma amongst rock. “Rockshot,” he shouted.

The stones burst out like shooting stars through the darkness. They tore into them. The salamander grunted and tilted its head down, trying to protect its eyes. The kobold wasn’t so lucky. Stones pelted it across its body, and it screamed. The blows knocked it from its seat and sent it crumbling to the ground.

“Nice shot!” Bud said.

Hump gave him a faint smile. It was all he could muster. He felt the cold seep through him, pushing back the warmth of wizardfire even further than before. He breathed deeply. It wasn’t much, but dungeon essence filled his lungs and made the cold bearable.

Ahead of them, someone called that they were through. Then he heard Vamir’s voice over the top of them. “Keep moving! All of you, through that tunnel and don’t stop. Go, go, go! Don’t stop!”

Almost there, Hump told himself. He glanced back and saw the now riderless salamander quickly gaining on his heels. Hump yelped as it snapped at him, and he jolted forward, nearly tripping over the man in front of him.

It snapped again and he jumped, trying to dodge, but it caught his trouser leg. Hump felt a sudden pull, his stomach lurched as his legs were pulled out from underneath him. He hit the ground hard. The salamander shook him by the trouser leg before he’d even had the chance to process the pain. He screamed and kicked it in the snout, but it only shook harder, tearing off a strip of cloth. For just a moment it lost its hold on him

Hump scrambled back and the salamander surged toward him. Frantically, he took aim with his staff. White essence shone in the crystal focus as he gathered his will and yelled, “Shield.”

The air shimmered, the barrier spreading out before him. The salamander smashed straight on through, destroying the spell before it could even take form. Essence dissipated into the air like smoke, and the creature’s jaws widened. Hump screamed as it bore down on him.

Frostfire flared, filling the tunnel with flickering blue light and icy cold. The salamander’s eyes gleamed up as Bud’s sword slashed across its face, cutting a gash through both eyes. It screamed and reared back, throwing itself against the walls and clawing at its face as ice crystalised across the wound. Hump felt a pressure on his shoulder. It pulled him, dragging him back out of reach. The next thing he knew Bud had him by the arm and yanked him back to his feet.

Hump stared back at the salamander in horror; he’d been so close to becoming lizard food. From how bad things looked, he still was. Behind it, kobolds gathered at a safe distance and tried to figure out a way past.

“Go!” Bud roared, shoving Hump onward.

He ran. It wasn’t like he could do anything else. He was out of breath, bruised and battered, and approaching dangerous territories of essence overuse. Behind him the salamander screamed. He turned back in time to see the kobolds stab it with their spears. They were merciless, even to one of their own. The creature’s agonised screams echoed through the tunnel. Now blind, it was pierced by dozens of sharp points. Its large body didn’t allow for a quick death. When it finally went silent, Hump was trembling. He didn’t pity it, the creature would have killed him, but hearing its pained screams shook him.

The kobolds clambered over its body. One of the larger, yellow sailed kobolds directing them forward, threatening any that hesitated with its own sword. Hump could only thank their lucky stars there were no scaledbrutes amongst them.

“Look away,” Celaine said, tossing the last of the vials at the group as the struggled over the dead body.

Hump did.

It exploded in another flash of blinding light. The kobolds screamed in pain, but the sound was overpowered by the battle cries of those that flooded in behind them. A salamander roared, and its footsteps once more thundered up the tunnel.

“Come on!” Vamir shouted. Green light from the chamber beyond outlined his figure at the tunnel opening. His sword was ready in one hand, while he wielded his long dagger in the left.

The villagers fled past him by the dozen.

A javelin struck the wall beside Hump and nearly caught his foot where it bounced off. He glanced over his shoulder to see the kobolds part to the side, hugging the walls as the first salamander charged up their centre.

Hump held his staff out, but he couldn’t stop a creature this large. Not with just seconds to spare.

The air whistled. Silver glinted in the air, and suddenly the salamander reared up and wailed. A dagger stuck out from the creature’s snout, piercing deep into the flesh, so that only the handle remained visible. Hump recongised the black leather handle. It was Vamir’s dagger. It threw itself against the wall and twisted, writhing in pain.

Behind it, the kobolds prodded it, driving it into a rage the drove it forward. It surged after them in a frenzy, so close, Hump felt the ground tremble beneath its footsteps.

“Don’t stop you idiots!” Vamir shouted.

Hump turned to see Bud standing at his side, sword at the ready. Together they raced up the last stretch of the tunnel, darting past Vamir and into the chamber beyond. Around them, half a dozen villagers stood in a daze, examining the horror of the chamber. Some stared at the dead kobolds that had been pulverised by Hump’s rockshot the day prior. Others saw the empty cages and the bloody butchers stand in the corner, with the pit that descended into darkness.

“Through the tunnel!” Hump yelled at them. “Move!” They stirred into motion, scrambling across the chamber full of bodies.

Hump turned as Vamir steadied himself to meet the salamander. His legs spread, sword poised to stab, an arrogant smirk on his lips. In a flash of red, the salamander barrelled into the chamber and straight at Vamir.

Vamir’s sword came alight with silver sparks, so bright that they were blinding.