Paul Kidd - Descent into the Depths of the Earth

“Yes! Yes I do!” Polk had proudly organized the portablehole’s storage space and had inventoried every single item. “Six medallions,black, spider images on the reverse!”

“Hoopy!” Escalla held out her hand. “Pass ’em over! I’m gonnatalk our way past these guards.”

Polk and Benelux gave an almost identical squawk- “Talk?” -but had no choice in the matter.

The faerie led the way into the middle of the cavern. Polk hung at the rear, kicking toadstools. Escalla flew straight up to the drow, tipped them a salute, and presented them with one of the black medallions. Her other hand was behind her back, readying a spell.

A drow passed a detection spell over the girl, seeking to discern whether she was a secret agent of purity and goodness. The spell inevitably came up blank. The drow consulted one another, made a note in a record book, then opened up the gates to let the party through.

Walking past the guards, Polk shot a sidewise look at the dark elves and then glared at the other adventurers.

“That’s it?” the teamster whispered hoarsely. “We’re justwalkin’ though?”

“Yep!” Escalla tied the spider medallion about her neck. Hersuspicions were growing richer. “And the drow were amazingly unsurprised to seea faerie pass them by. How about that?”

“We’re just leaving then?”

“Polk, there are waaay more drow in the world that we havetime to bump off! Now if you want to get to the drow city, just shut up and march.”

The long tunnels were joined now by other paths. A reekingdrow merchant caravan plodded past, guarded by warriors and trailing a swarm of flies. Cinders growled as he passed the drow, and Jus firmly kept the hell hound’s snout pointing toward the walls.

Dark elves glared as the party passed. Escalla nodded and waved in response, her grin staying even as she sweated in fright.

“Oooh, we are going to get so killed!” The drow caravan hadan armed escort of a dozen trolls-massive green creatures that dragged theirknuckles as they walked. Escalla gave them a tinkling little wave. “I’m gonnakick the arse of that Seelie Court when we get home.”

Jus kept a quiet eye on the disappearing drow. He walked slowly and carefully, one hand resting upon Benelux, his eyes spearing every shadow. Above his head, Cinders’ red eyes gleamed as they searched into thedark.

The tunnels were now a well traveled road with the marks of thousands of marching, hopping, or dragging feet. Walls grew farther apart, the glowing fungi seemed deliberately tended, and nightmarish streaks of phosphorescent minerals added their pulsing light. The miles went slowly past, and then quite suddenly the tunnel walls simply disappeared.

Standing in a great, gloomy silence, Escalla, the Justicar, Polk, Cinders, and Private Henry gazed upon the vault of the drow.

It was a vast, empty space in which echoes simply died. A cliff wall soared into unknown distances above, dwarfing the adventurers below. A roof arched upward, disappearing into the distance a thousand yards above, the ceiling’s arc shown by nebulous sprays and swirls of colors stolen from amadman’s dreams.

The caverns stretched for untold miles. Overhead, a great bloated node of minerals stole a lurid glow across the scene. Light the color of blood seeped across the rocks, making each formation shimmer with sickly colors all its own. There were pale blues and acid yellows. Clouds of blue spores drifted from titanic mushrooms that loomed into the sky.

Half hidden in the eerie hush, noises drifted in the gloom: distant night creatures gave screams and cries or wept like children and sighed awful promises. There was no wind. The air never stirred, and the false stars upon the ceiling were dead and cold.

The light made all shapes flat and lifeless and turned familiar colors into startling new hues. Escalla hovered, staring at the hideous kingdom, and her bared skin shone a cadaverous lavender-blue. The Justicar turned to look at her and slowly raised a smile.

“Lavender?” Jus seemed amused. “Heh.”

“Lavender!” Recoiling in panic, Escalla almost expired inshame. She was utterly appalled as she looked at her own usually milk-white flesh. “Lavender! Aww man! What sort of style credibility is lavender?” Escallawhirled, trying to see her rear.

The cave gave an impression of vast, terrifying space, yet the light was dim enough to make vision fail to see more than a few hundred yards. A path of crushed crystal ran out of the tunnel. Overhung with stinking toadstools in which gibbering little creatures lurked, the path shone a horrible violet-blue. Jus stepped cautiously onto the crystals, felt them crunch like bird skulls underfoot, then led the way forward into the emptiness.

The huge, dark figure of the Justicar seemed utterly indestructible. Having hesitated at the threshold, Escalla and Private Henry moved instantly onward in the Justicar’s wake. Simply being near him seemedprotection against the horrors of the unseen. Standing and writing in his book of chronicles, Polk finished a paragraph with satisfaction, looked up to find that he was standing alone, and ran after the other explorers as fast as he could.

A tower loomed above the path-a savage shape framed byimpaled corpses that were gnawed and worried by jabbering creatures of the dark. Lit by stars that were not stars, the carnivorous beasts tore strips of flesh from corpses and cackled as they ate.

The magic sword at Jus’ side stirred softly in its scabbard. Undead.

“I see them.” Jus kept his voice low. “We’re too near thetower to risk killing them.”

Ah. The sword seemed thoughtful. I take it we shallpursue such aims later? If so, I believe I can coach you in appropriate heroic rhetoric.

“I look forward to it!”

A checkpoint barred the road ahead. Drow stood to watch the party approach, while others leaned over the parapets of the tower. A freshly impaled victim still jerked and twitched beside the road, blood pouring out to seep through the glowing crystal path. Jus looked upon the sight and bristled like a vast, dark animal.

“We have a very great deal of work to do.”

Drow soldiers stirred-males left to do the dirty work whiletheir dark sisters indulged their appetites in the tower.

Escalla whirred forward, producing her black medallion for the guards, and announced, “Greetings.”

The senior guard looked at Escalla as though she were filth from underneath a stone. The drow took the medallion, tossed it into a basket, then wiped his hands upon a cloth as though they were suddenly unclean. The elf’s voice, oddly accented, dripped with scorn, soft and sibilant, sweet aspoisoned syrup and utterly foul. “Why have you come?”

It was Escalla’s moment to shine. Dressed in artfully tornblack silks, she arrogantly threw back her long blonde hair and disdainfully looked the dark elf up and down.

“I have business. Business far too complex for a mere elf tounderstand.” The girl flicked a hand toward the other adventurers. “These threehumans are my retainers.”

Escalla very deliberately ran her fingers into her hair, lifting her glorious golden locks. The spider pin gleamed, and the drow instantly stiffened and backed a step away. Weapons wavered and then pointed aside.

“Go.” Looking as though the words choked him, the chief drowmotioned for his men to let the travelers pass. “Go along the right hand path tothe city. Do not deviate.”

“As you wish.” Escalla made a wave as she turned away,muttering beneath her breath. “And a nice day to you, you walking sphincter!”

Followed by her entourage, Escalla began to move away.

As he passed, the Justicar turned, vast and deadly, and looked coldly down at the drow.