It was unclear whether the town of Islop had been razed in its entirety during the Night of Fire, or in the chaos that followed, but not a single building remained standing. Some had been blown apart by an incredible force, sending splinters of rock and wood flying great distances while others had been burned to the ground. In the distance, the top of the spire could be seen peeping over the top of a rise that marked the town’s western boundary.
The group had hoped to find food or other useful items they could salvage, but it quickly became clear that nothing had survived, and all they saw were scattered bones with an intact skull here and there providing the sobering reminder that they were all human. The air was still, and nothing moved, lending to the eerie air.
Galfin’s soul felt numb as he led the others through the remains of his hometown. It was his first time back in two years, and he intentionally kept his eyes from roaming. Each pile of rubble was a home or a business, or a church, or a workshop, or an inn that he knew intimately, and each human remain belonged to a friend or neighbour.
“The Lord Mayor’s house is at the end of this road,” he said. “He had the largest cellar in town.”
Chelhem looked at the sky before placing a hand on Galfin’s arm. “We still have some time before dusk. Are you sure you don’t want to check on your home first?”
Galfin smirked before gesturing at the rubble around them. “What is there to check?”
“Something might have survived the destruction,” the boy asserted. “Something you could keep as a memento.”
“No,” the man breathed. He looked pointedly at rubble standing on a rise at the edge of town before shaking his head. “No. I’m afraid of what I might find.”
“Try not to disturb anything,” Aeldra warned. We do not know if the Enemy will notice.”
“That’s fair,” Ondra said quickly before turning to Aeldra. “Have your people ranged this way?”
“No,” the elf admitted. “We don’t know if the Enemy comes this way after dark if that is what you are asking.”
“Posting a sentry would be wise either way,” Findel remarked.
“Aeldra and I will take the first two watches,” Galfin said. “I’m sure you three didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“I am fairly sure that the two of you didn’t get any sleep last night,” Ondra observed with a demure smile. “But I will gladly take you up on your offer.”
“How much rest do you need to be battle ready?” Aeldra ventured.
“Six hours ought to do it,” the wizard replied.
The elf nodded. “If possible, I’d like you to sleep through the night, then. Galfin, the dwarf, and I shall be plenty to cover the night watches.”
“I will take a watch as well,” Chelhem offered.
“A growing boy needs his sleep,” Galfin remarked gruffly.
The shadows were swiftly growing longer. The tower was still, but they knew that would soon change. The group passed silently under a stone arch. It was topped by an intricately carved lion’s head and was the only part of the mayor’s home that still stood.
“What is it?” Galfin asked, having seen Ondra come to a stop.
“That’s a twelfth century Marchini,” she remarked, staring at a shattered chest of drawers. The wood was sun bleached, and the once black wrought iron handles were now an ugly brown. “Your lord mayor had impeccable taste.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Galfin grunted.
He looked around to get his bearings and found a broken hand cranked water pump that he recalled was close to the mayor’s kitchen sink which put him in roughly the right place. He kicked aside the broken remains of a table and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the hatch in the ground.
“It’s here, and it looks intact,” he said, tugging on the iron ring that opened the hatch.
The air that wafted out was musty and cool, and the faint smell told him that there wasn’t much hope that the root vegetables that had been stored inside were still edible. As he stepped onto a rickety ladder and tested its sturdiness, he saw something flee into the darkness, and his heart began to pound.
Aeldra appeared behind him, bow at the ready before he even thought to unsling his axe. They exchanged looks and Galfin descended slowly into the cellar. It was vast and almost pitch back except for the area immediately around the hatch. The ladder creaked under his weight as he descended into the cellar, extending his senses out into the inky blackness.
He stepped onto firm ground and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. There was a moment of confusion when he heard the ladder creak behind him. He didn’t dare turn around to see who it was, but it was clear it wasn’t Aeldra.
“Dusk is almost upon us, we cannot afford to waste time,” Ondra’s voice echoed through the darkened cellar, causing Galfin to jump. Before he could protest, the wizard raised her hand and cried. “Illuminare!”
The wizard’s hand began to glow, and Galfin readied himself for battle. As the light grew, it illuminated rows of shelves that were filled with dust covered bottles. Then, he spotted a pair of furry black shapes scampered away from the light in search of darkness.
“Rats,” Galfin breathed before turning around to face Ondra. “That was dangerous, coming down here and doing that. What if there had been…”
“Look,” she said, looking down pointedly at the thick layer of dust and ash that covered the ground, “The only marks in them were their pawprints. This cellar is safe.”
Aeldra brushed past Galfin wearing an exasperated look that he knew was directed at the wizard. Ondra would be the death of them if she didn’t keep her loud mouth under control. The elf gestured down the cellar, and Galfin obligingly took the lead. They were too experienced to leave anything to chance. Behind them, Findel quietly closed the hatch before taking his position close to Chelhem by the ladder.
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“Do you want me to keep the light?” Galfin winced when the wizard’s voice echoed across the cellar.
He turned around and nodded curtly before placing his finger to his lips. The wizard’s eyes twinkled mischievously, and she took a deep breath before booming. “Finish your sweep quickly, please, I can’t maintain this for long.”
“What’s her problem?” Galfin muttered, noting the furious look on Aeldra’s face.
“She’s going to have her throat slit in her sleep at this rate,” the elf murmured.
“Steady now,” was all Galfin could think to say to soothe his partner. He turned around and searched his memory.
His wife had worked as a kitchen helper here in the lord mayor’s home, and she had helped Galfin get hired to lend a hand as a labourer to help move the wine shipments in. It was backbreaking work, but with a baby on the way, the extra money was welcome. It was from this time that Galfin knew there was a door at the end of the cellar. He didn’t know where it led, but now, it was important to find out.
He padded between two long rows of dusty shelves until the far wall of the cellar came into view. A door was set in it, and dwindling daylight was visible from the crack under the door. He turned towards his partner, who nodded for him to continue. Sensing his partner tense behind him, Galfin readied his axe. He turned around to look at Aeldra to see if she could sense anything on the other side of the door. She cocked her head, and he reached for the handle.
A twist. It didn’t budge. The door was locked. Galfin took a breath before wedging the head of his axe into the doorjamb. With a firm twist, the door splintered, and he swung it open.
“By the Great Tree,” Aeldra gasped.
The door opened into a large bowl shaped crater over a hundred feet in diameter and twenty deep where the manor’s living room once was. Water had collected at the base of the crater and a pair of skeletons lay close to the lip.
“What could have caused this?” the elf murmured.
“Perhaps a brute falling from the sky,” Galfin replied. He looked up and the hair on his neck stood on end when he caught a glimpse of the spire lit up in blood red lights. He quickly closed the door and took a deep breath. “We should stay away from this door.”
“Agreed.”
The others had removed their travelling cloaks and laid them out on the dusty floor by the time Galfin and Aeldra returned.
“Making yourselves comfortable, I see,” Aeldra observed dryly.
“It is important for us to rest while we can,” Ondra grinned, speaking quietly this time. “Do you still need the light?”
Galfin saw for the first time that the wizard was carrying a small sling bag. She noticed his gaze and tried to hide it before grinning at her own foolishness. Sheepishly, the Archmage opened the bag and produced a heavy tome. The Imperial Bargusian Seal, a hand clutching a fiery sword, was embossed onto the cover.
“These are just some tomes I rescued from Edelsberg before I fled,” she explained. “They contained Imperial secrets… but I suppose there is no longer a need to keep them secret now that the Empire is no more.”
She held the tome out, offering it to Galfin and Aeldra, who both shook their heads. Neither of them was in the mood to read. Besides, whatever secrets that tome contained lost their relevance with the death of the Empire.
“I didn’t know you were carrying such a thing,” Chelhem remarked sleepily.
“Tired already?” Aeldra sniffed.
Galfin glanced at his partner who was glaring at the boy and placed a hand on her shoulder. “He’s still a child.”
Aeldra scowled before stalking back towards the shelves. “I’ll watch the other door, and you can watch the hatch.”
“What’s with her?” Findel wondered out loud.
“She doesn’t like me,” Chelhem said softly. “I wonder what I did to upset her.”
Ondra stroked the boy’s hair and smiled. “Don’t mind her, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“She’s just worried about our people,” Galfin remarked, staring after her.
“If you don’t need the light anymore…” Ondra began.
“Oh,” Galfin blinked. “Yes, please, if anything, it might give us away to the Enemy.”
The light faded, plunging the cellar into darkness. They heard a crash from deeper in the cellar followed by the sound of Aeldra cursing.
“Sorry!” Ondra called into the darkness.
Galfin took a deep breath and glanced at Findel, who had just sat down on his cloak. “If it’s alright with you, Master Dwarf, could you keep watch for a few minutes?”
“Are you going to see to your friend?” he asked sardonically.
“I am,” Galfin replied. “She’s out of sorts and we are deep within enemy territory with only one another to rely on.”
“Go,” Ondra said, stifling a yawn. “Findel will keep an eye on things until you return.”
Galfin shuffled away, groping with his hand in the dark until he touched a shelf and used it to guide himself to the opposite side of the cellar. He soon found the door. The light filtering in from below was fading quickly but it was enough to illuminate Aeldra, who was sitting across from it, wearing a forlorn look on her face.
A deep sigh escaped Galfin’s lips as he sat next to his partner, and he realized he was more tired than he thought after all the excitement.
“You sound like an old man,” Aeldra remarked.
“They will be alright,” he said, forcing himself to sound more confident than he felt. “The Captain is the finest warrior either of us have ever known.”
“That was the first time I’ve seen the emblem of the Empire in a long time,” she murmured softly before turning her gaze up at Galfin. “The Elbaradian Empire… I was born after the elves and dwarves split from it. The Bargusian Empire was what remained after.”
Galfin blinked. “I thought that was a lie or an embellishment of the truth.”
In the corner of his eye, he saw Aeldra shake her head. The flaming sword was supposedly the mandate of heaven. Somewhere along the way, the human Emperors lost it and with it, their mandate, or so the elders say…”
“And what does all this have to do with why you’re so hostile towards the boy?” he asked bluntly.
Aeldra shrugged. “It’s just… when I saw that emblem, I had a vision of my people having to kneel before him as their Emperor… After all that’s happened between the Bargusian Empire and my people it just seems… wrong…”
“The boy says he has no claim to the throne…” Galfin began.
“He could be lying to get our support,” Aeldra scoffed.
“The Chieftain seems to believe him,” Galfin pointed out. “Besides, even if he did lay claim to the Dragon Throne, there’s not much left of an Empire left for him to rule.”
Aeldra frowned. “I know that. It’s just…”
Her voice trailed off, and her eyes went to the ceiling. A few moments later, Galfin felt it too. Tremors. As though something heavy was walking above them. He exchanged looks with Aeldra and attempted to spring to his feet, but his legs were leaden after the short rest. The elf gave him a bemused look as he struggled to pull himself up and hobbled back to the others where he heard Ondra snoring softly.
“What is it?” Findel asked out of the darkness.
“A brute, I’d wager,” Galfin whispered back. He held his breath and heard the thudding footsteps. It sounds like it’s walking through the town square.”
“What do we do?” the dwarf asked.
“Lie low and keep quiet,” Galfin replied.
“Then perhaps it’s for the best that she’s asleep,” Findel remarked.
Galfin smiled, but his good humour quickly vanished when he felt the lumbering footsteps approach the hatch. Dust began to rain down through the floorboards above as the creature approached.
“Do you think it has our scent?” Findel’s voice was fraught with fear.
Even though it was pitch dark, Galfin placed a finger to his lips, hoping the dwarf could see. He held his breath and looked up. Another step. Floorboards nearby began to creak and splinter. Had the creature noticed the rubble was disturbed from the previous night? He thought about rousing the two. If the creature above continued on its course, it was likely to break through into the cellar, exposing them. Then, they would have to run, which would mean almost certain death.
As he was about to place a hand on Ondra’s shoulder to rouse her, the footsteps moved away, and Galfin breathed a sigh of relief. His paternal instincts kicked in and he placed a hand on where Chelhem had been lying down to reassure the lad if he was awake, and his heart sank when he found that the boy wasn’t there. Galfin turned and grabbed Findel by the wrist.
“Where is the boy?”
“Shit,” Findel cursed out of the darkness. “He said he was going up to relieve himself.”
“When did he go?”
“Just after you left to speak with the elf. There is still light out there! I didn’t think they would be out on the prowl this early.”
Galfin bit back a curse and looked up at the hatch. There was no other choice. He had to go looking for him.