Jenna Helland - The Fanged Crown

When Harp walked into the nearly deserted hub, Kitto and Boult were seated at one of the long tables eating breakfast with Zo. All three stared at him in silent awe as he sat down on the wooden bench beside Kitto. There was a tray of eggs and chopped pork, and Harp heaped the plate with more food than he would normally eat in a tenday.

“Where’s Verran?” Harp asked shoving the eggs into his mouth as the others gaped at him. “Come on now. Don’t stare. You’ll hurt my feelings.”

Boult recovered first. “What happened to your scars, Harp?”

“Majida’s healing touch,” Harp said casually. “I guess you know how fortunate you are to have her, Zo. I know mages in Waterdeep who would kill to have her study with them.”

“How did she do it?” Kitto asked, his black eyes abnormally wide as he stared at his friend.

“I’m not sure,” Harp replied. “Where is she? And where’s Verran?”

No one answered. They were still too busy gaping at him. Having seen his reflection in the sheen of Majida’s observatory, he understood their reaction. While he still had crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes and creases in the center of his forehead, most of the signs of aging brought on by too much ale, hard living, and days under the hot sun were gone. He looked as if he’d been reborn a much younger man.

“Suddenly I’m not a scarred freak, and you all can’t stop looking at me.”

“I don’t know if you’ve seen yourself,” Boult said, turning his attention back to his food. “But you are very much changed.”

“But that’s a good thing, right?” Harp said, perplexed by the undercurrents of emotion in the room.

“Sure it is, Harp,” Boult said, exchanging glances with Kitto. “We’re just …”

“Happy for you,” Kitto said with a little grin.

“Yeah,” Boult agreed. “Since you have new skin, it’s a great time to make a new start. You can stop being such an idiot.”

“Ah, Boult,” Harp said between bites. “You know how to make any occasion special.”

“You’re a drunken fool,” Boult said sweetly.

“And you’re a vengeful scoundrel,” Harp replied, just as sweetly.

“Last son of a fat goblin,” Boult said.

“Arrogant goat,” Harp shot back, and Kitto laughed.

“What’s so funny, boyo?” Harp asked Kitto amicably.

“Everything’s changed,” Kitto said, smiling down at his plate. “But nothing’s changed too.”

Zo had been watching the exchange curiously. “I have no idea what any of you are talking about,” he said, pushing back from the table. “But if you’re going to the ruins, we don’t want to get started too late in the day.”

“How far is it to the ruins?” Harp asked, finishing the last bite of his breakfast and standing up. He’d had enough of resting. In fact, he felt like he would never need to sleep again.

“It’s not far to the edge of the Domain,” Zo told him. “Beyond that, I’m not sure how far it is to the boundaries of the ruins itself.”

“Is that where you took Liel?”

“Majida took her to the edge. But I won’t leave the Domain. You’ll have to make your way from there by yourself.”

“So why doesn’t Majida take us?”

Zo scowled. “Because I’m taking you. Majida’s busy.”

“So, don’t make fun of me, Boult,” Harp said. “But I lost my sword. Again.”

“How many is that?” Boult asked, shaking his head in disgust. “Two in less than a tenday?”

“There’s an armory down that tunnel,” Zo told them. “You’re welcome to take what you need.”

“I’ll go round up Verran,” Boult said. “Pick me out something nice.”

“We’ll pay you, of course,” Harp said to Zo, as he and Kitto followed the dwarf into the armory. “You’ve shown us enough hospitality already.”

Zo shook his head. “Kill Scaly Ones. Kill the man you call the Practitioner. That’ll be payment enough.”

If Verran was shocked by Harp’s new appearance, he hid it well. Sullen and withdrawn, the boy trailed behind them as they followed Zo down the eastern tunnel. Harp’s pack was filled with supplies, and it felt heavy on his shoulders as they walked through the dimly lit tunnel. He’d picked out two stubby swords, a sturdy but diminutive shield, and a crossbow that would have fit a child’s hand. Not that Harp was going to complain. Even miniscule weapons were better than nothing.

“What do you know about the ruins?” he asked Zo as they walked.

“Hisari was the name of the city. It’s been hundreds of years since the earth swallowed it. From what Majida says, it’s still intact, just buried. Did you see the ruins when you were on top of the waterfall?”

“I saw the golden dome.”

“That’s the top of the palace. Until recently, it was covered by the jungle, but Cardew and his men cleared it away.”

“That’s what they spent their time doing?”

“Yes. But they couldn’t get into the palace. Fortunately, they didn’t know about our underground tunnels.”

“They couldn’t break through the dome?”

“They tried, but nothing worked. They weren’t able to dig down into it either. Probably because of then magical barrier that surrounds it.”

“Do yuan-ti live in the ruins?” Boult asked.

“They dwell above ground. There must be things living down there, but what, I’m not sure.”

Up ahead the tunnel made a sharp right. Zo stopped, lit a torch, and handed it to Harp.

“The Domain ends up ahead,” Zo said. “I’ve never been past that point, and I don’t care to go.”

“You said something about a barrier?” Verran asked.

“Yes, at the edge of Hisari.”

“It’s not a dwarven ward?” Boult asked.

“No, we have our own wards on the Domain,” Zo replied. “You’ll see our runes on the walls from here until you reach the edge of our territory. But the barrier around Hisari is something different. It’s ancient.”

“How did Liel get through?” Verran asked.

“Majida didn’t tell you?” Zo asked in surprise.

Harp shook his head. “She didn’t give us specifics.”

“She didn’t tell me either,” Zo said. “I know that she and Liel spent hours trying to bring it down. What finally worked, I can’t say.”

“Can you get us through, Verran?” Harp asked.

“I’ll try,” Verran said, his eyes darting away as if he couldn’t bring himself to look at Harp’s unscarred face. “If you need us, you know where to find us,” Zo said, clasping hands with each of them before he turned and headed back down the way they’d come.

“Well, men,” Harp said. “Any final thoughts before we head into the mouth of the beast?”

“I wanted to go back to the ship that first day,” Boult said, snatching the torch from Harp’s hand and stomping down the tunnel. “I said we should sail to Nyanzaru and sell the Marigold . If you’d listened to me, we’d be sitting on a pile of coin and drinking a pint.”

“Ah, but you’d never have seen a giant lizard.”

“It was dead,” Boult said over his shoulder as they followed him into the tunnel.

“You’d never have seen a dead giant lizard get eaten by ants,” Harp reminded him.

“Eh,” Boult said, shrugging.

“You’d never have jumped off a waterfall,” Harp said.

“Or been attacked by a creature made out of corpses,” Kitto added.

“Or seen the bones of a god,” Harp pointed out.

“It wasn’t a god,” Verran muttered, but everyone ignored him.

“And Harp would still have his scars,” Kitto said.

Boult stopped. At first Harp thought it was because of what Kitto had said, but Boult was staring at the wall. In tiny writing from floor to ceiling, black runes were scorched into the rock and glowing faintly in the torchlight. Boult held the torch close to them and peered at the wall.