Paul Kidd - Descent into the Depths of the Earth

There was a shy shuffle from behind. Looking up at the Justicar, Private Henry cleared his throat and timidly offered his sword.

“Sir? I’m really not much use with it.” The boy unsheathedthe first few inches of the blade and looked down at his feet. “I watched youfight. I… I could never be a fighter like that.”

The Justicar looked down at the boy with a sudden grim pride. Rage and annoyance forgotten, he laid a hand on Private Henry’s shoulder.“What’s your name again, son?”

“Henry.”

“Thank you, Henry.” Jus hefted the boy’s sword, then laid itback in Henry’s hands. “Keep it. You’ll need it. You kept a drow off my back.Well done.”

Henry slumped in self-made misery. “It was only one, and shewould have killed me if it wasn’t for the faerie.”

Perking instantly up, Escalla whirred over to the rescue.

“Spell! Ha! That’s right! That was a. faerie spell!”The girl dusted off Henry’s helmet in pride. “Didn’t they ever tell you aboutfaerie magic? That spell is only effective if the recipient is pure of heart.”Escalla smoothed the boy’s hair and jerked his collar straight. “You’ve got theright stuff, kid. Magic never lies. Now let’s get moving. We need your sharpeyes covering the rear while we go find Jus a new sword!”

Private Henry drew himself fully upright, reaching almost to Jus’ chest. Full of pride and energy, he clapped a bolt into his crossbow,squared his helmet, and marched off into the passageway. Watching him go, Jus cradled Escalla in the crook of his arm.

“Was that true about that spell?”

“What, stoneskin?” Escalla pulled her nose. “Naah! But lookhow good it made him feel.” The girl spread her wings and whirred into the air.“Come on, J-man! Time’s wasting, and that slowglass is gettin’ halfway to drowcentral!”

Jus sighed and hung back a few moments to use his healing spells to cure his wounds. Unarmed yet still dangerous, he stalked out of the cave mouth and moved into the dark.

They walked into the vile tunnel, water dripping and worms slithering wetly through the mold about them. Polk marched unsteadily, dwarfed by the pack of loot balanced on his shoulders. Somehow the little man never minded the load, being driven onward by sheer bloody-mindedness as he cleaved the dark like an icebreaker forging through a polar sea. Coming level with Escalla, he shot the girl a long glance, swelled his pigeon chest, and cleared his throat. “Discipline!”

“What?” Escalla eyed the man suspiciously. “Polk, have youbeen reading those stories about dryads again?”

“Discipline!” Polk sniffed, never to be swayed from hispurpose once he had begun. “That’s what you need. Rewards never come byaccident. Since the fall of evil is a reward to the good, the good need discipline, application, a sense of responsibility!”

The faerie made a face and simply stopped listening. “Yeahyeah. Blah-blah-blah. The faerie fell asleep, so it’s her fault Jus’sword got eaten!”

Walking just ahead of her, Jus raised one finger without bothering to look around. “Escalla.”

“Yes?”

“Order number one. For the next hour, listen very closely toeverything Polk has to say.”

Escalla shot Jus a look that could kill, glowered, then sat herself atop Polk’s backpack, propping her chin in her hands. Swelling grandly,Polk marched doggedly along behind the Justicar and tucked his thumbs into his braces.

“Well now! You see, back when I was a lad, schoolin’ wasdifferent. Focus, that’s what they gave us-focus and a sense of worth.Why, once I remember I gave my lunch to another little boy because his family was poor. Day after day I helped him out. No credit wanted! No fuss! In those days you spoke when you were spoken to! Kept your thoughts to yourself. Lesson I learned to heart!”

Escalla sighed, propped her elbows on her knees, and endured.

* * *

The locator needle pointed northwest. Ignoring side tunnelsand slimy caves, the group moved northwards in skill and silence, watching carefully for sign of ambush. Their path continued sloping downward, descending in occasional steps and terraces where waterfalls of slime trickled slowly in the shadows.

Jus knelt to examine strange footprints he found gleaming wetly on the fungi here and there. None of the marks were fresh, but they gave a horrible feeling of presence, of a hidden life lurking always just out of sight.

Miles passed. It was a weird limbo in which time scarcely seemed to exist. One patch of fungi-smothered tunnel could have been any other, and the underdark was sealed away from the rhythms of night and day. Drifting from his peaceful haze, Cinders’ eyes finally gleamed bright again. He wriggledhimself into place across the Justicar’s warm back and said, Hi!

“Hello.” Jus carefully examined a hanging curtain of mold fordanger, then led the party well away from the obstruction. “Nice rest?”

Nice! The hell hound wagged his tail, his grin gleaminglike a nightmare. Cinders better!

“Well, wake up and keep your ears open.” Jus cautiouslysteered Escalla away from an innocent looking covey of screamer fungi. “We’re introuble. I lost my sword.”

Cinders help! His long black tail went wag-wag-wag. Fun!

The main pathway dissolved into a maze of interlocking caverns-some large, some small. Jus squatted down and had Escalla consult thelocator needle, choosing a route that seemed to lead in the required direction. The team ducked one by one beneath a low ceiling and walked uncomfortably crab-wise between shallow pools of slime. They emerged into a new cave, where the lost tunnel reappeared.

Escalla heaved a sigh of relief at having found the right path again, waved the others to follow her, only to freeze, turn invisible, and dart madly back down amongst the mounds of bat dung.

“Down!”

Three shapes hovered in the gloom, bobbing malevolently up and down. They were huge, grim spheres, each one topped with a cluster of eye stalks and with one huge eye glaring off into the dark. Gaping mouths slashed across the arc of the spheres, mouths crammed with fangs that seemed to thirst for blood.

In a mad panic, Escalla grabbed Polk and Jus by the ears, trying to tow them back into the caves.

“Come on! Gotta go!” Her whisper hissed above the whirof busy little wings. “Beholders! Run like hell!”

The monsters moved, drifting slowly up and down. Hovering silently and lost in their own thoughts, the three beings stared off into the caves, having failed to catch sight of the tiny faerie. With her friends hidden safely in cover two dozen yards back in the caves, Escalla reappeared, plastered flat against the rocks and looking in fright toward the tunnel mouth. The girl worked the slide of her battle wand.

“Oh man, oh man! Paranoid xenophobic homicidal maniacs thatshoot killer spells from every eye!” The girl looked left and right, trying tosee a route past the lurking terrors up ahead. “We are dead!”

Jus stood up, tugged his armor straight, and settled his dagger in his belt. He strode straight down the passageway with his usual irresistible tread. Escalla could only gape in horror for a moment, then flew off madly in pursuit.

“Jus, get down!”

The three monsters were still there in the cave, circling and maneuvering slowly in the still air. Jus levered himself down a terrace and walked into the tunnel, marching over to the monsters and standing directly beneath the nearest one. He scratched the stubble of his chin, betraying amusement by shooting a sly look sideways to make sure Escalla was watching him. Intensely annoyed, Escalla emerged from behind the cover of a rock outcrop.