17 - Bravery doesn’t depend on height, part 2
(this fragment of my story is dated approximately 1 year prior to current Bar-en-Acharn's doings and adventures)
“Impossible! How could this be?” gasped Bróin.
Muttering and grumbling sounded from all dwarven throats.
“I expected a bit of damage, but this looks terrible,” added Brogur.
The group was standing at the mountain wall, looming sheer above them.
The expected entrance to the lost dwarven halls of Moria was blocked by a large heap of stone and debris.
Kor and Plusheila had a hard time to come near if they wouldn’t want to soak their feet. The little lake was nearly reaching the vertical mountain side, the grassy stripe was only about twenty feet wide and now all the dwarven expedition crowded around the sealed entrance. The smooth surface of the pool was reflecting morning sun, but the water wasn’t clear. It was murky and dirty. Because it is completely still. This is no mountain spring, but puddle of stagnant water.
Some of the dwarves immediately started to clear out the rubble.
“Stop! All of you!” shouted Brogur and Bósi followed him within a second.
All of them looked at the leaders with disbelieving expression.
“We need to investigate first. I don’t like the look of it. Something tells me there was a fight here…“ explained Brogur and Bósi nodded.
In next hour, only a handful from the dwarf squad explored the surrounding to prevent destroying what yet might remain of any tracks or clues. They found no direct proof that the stone hasn’t collapsed by itself, but one of them noticed a shallow furrow in the thin layer of soil, directing from entrance to the pool. It was surely not made by falling or rolling boulder, rather something softer.
Brogur examined it, looked to the still water and then shrugged.
“Well, we are no wiser than before. To work!”
A large part of the expedition meanwhile brought shovels, pickaxes and wheelbarrows. The heap of stone was to be put apart within this day.
Kor diffidently headed to Brogur.
“Would you accept service of a journeyman woodworker? I can cut some wood for log supports. They might be needed once inside.”
The faces of some dwarves around brightened.
“Of course! Lads, show Kor our equipment. Borrow him anything he will need.” Brogur pointed to the wagons on the far side of the pool.
Kor joined a trio of dwarves, that were responsible for the wooden stuff.
At the end of the day, the entrance was nearly cleared. Two bigger boulders remained, and the dwarves were preparing their moving aside with ropes and wooden planks.
Finally, the mountain side was looking like it was supposed to be. Smooth and clean.
Kor was watching the wall, wondering about its smoothness. Furthermore, he noticed faintly glittering runes covered by dust.
Unbelievable…
“Hey, Ráthwald, tell all to come here. We can finally enter,” ordered Bósi.
The named dwarf nodded and started to ran towards along the pool shore to the waggons on the access road.
Bósi looked at the stone wall, then leaned his head back to look up to the mountain.
“I look forward to it so much,” he turned to Kor. “And also to your impression about our craft. You should take care about your eyeballs now, ‘less they will fall out…“
Bósi turned aside, disturbed by some sound. A few bored dwarf diggers were at first throwing pebbles into the water. But now they started a competition, who would throw a bigger rock and most far. With one hand only. The splashing sound of skull-sized stones was echoing strangely in the closed dell with the pool.
„Hey, stop that!“
The dwarves reluctantly obeyed.
“Oh, dammit, what takes them so long? Did Ráthwald stopped for a dinner before he started to muster them?”
Suddenly they heard water splashing. They turned to the murky pool and some of them froze for a moment.
Three long, waving and squirming things emerged from the water and reached them in no time. Two of this snake-like meaty ropes entwined calf or leg of the persons standing nearest to the water.
“Defend yourself!” shouted Brogur.
“Attack!”
The standing dwarves reached for any weapons they had in their vicinity. Unfortunately, it was mostly just pickaxes and wooden boards.
Kor felt like a large stone sunk within his intestines, but then he regained control.
“Raaaaaaaah!”
He had his sword with him. A nice, practical habit that came very convenient now.
The squirming things raised one dwarf from ground, then quickly plunged, pulling the victim into the water. The others replied with wild roaring and intensified their attacks, which were anyway mostly missing.
Luckily Plusheila is in the camp.
Kortheod jumped a few steps and cut the nearest snake-like thing. He realized that it is a tentacle.
Damn…I have heard of these things before. They live in sea. And far smaller.
The sharp edge of Urcarag managed to penetrate only a bit of it. Anyway the tentacle twitched and disappeared under water.
At the same moment, four more tentacles emerged and with speed of arrow reached the fighting squad.
“Run for help! By Durin’s beard’s last hair”! shouted Bori, who were swinging a plank in one hand and a long knife in the other.
Two dwarves didn’t have even a makeshift weapon, so they moved and sprinted to the encampment.
Kor knew he is one of three defenders wielding a proper blade, so he was moving in front line. But the fight looked hopeless. Even though Kor had hurt another tentacle, another dwarf was carried away.
“Bróin! No! Bróin!!” Brogur’s voice reached limit of loudness.
The prey held by the tentacle sunked.
“We should retreat! Retreat!” shouted Kortheod to Bósi and Brogur.
Bósi nodded, but Brogur shook head and his battle endeavour turned to death tempo. However, it was still not enough.
Suddenly, the water opened and the center of the water monster emerged. It was large, slimy and so horrid that it was defying description. In the more than ten feet wide greyish-black mass they recognized vicious eyes and toothy hole that was surely a maw.
“Retreat! Everybody retreat! Kor, Brogur, hold the thing yet for a bit! We must cover others’ escape!”
Kor was standing already knee-deep in the turbid water, as he tried to be most ahead. To move further was too risky.
Brief thoughts of possible tactics were moving in his head with lightning speed. If he will be the most biting prey, the monster will either avoid him, or focus on him – and both options were good. The first offered him certainty not to be harassed by any tentacle and therefore he would have freedom to attack, the second could bring him closer to the abomination.
He tried to catch the monster’s attention. And he succeeded. The tentacles moved towards him.
Come, you nasty filth. If this will be the last thing I can do for the free people, I have done a good job.
Of course, he couldn’t fend off all. He hurt two of them, but the Urcarag was like blunt. Its cuts didn’t go very deep. After a few moments other squirming tentacle wrapped around his calves and belly and raised him from the ground.
“Kor! I will cut you free!” he heard Brogur’s voice, already rattling from all the shouting.
„Run! Flee!“ yelled Kor over his shoulder.
The monster didn‘t drown him immediately, it seemed it wants to have a close look on the most stinging two-legged animal it has encountered so far. Kor was hanging in the air on the meaty ropes only a few feet before the nasty face, slowly descending to the stinking teethy hole. But his hands were free. And his sword was ready.
Come for your most piquant morsel, darkspawn…
Kor waited for the right moment and put all the strength in the stab.
“Choke on it! For all the Khazad! Aulë and Elbereth!!!“
The slimy creature emitted most ugly and profound ear-piercing sound. Its tentacles shivered in spasm and Kor lost breath for a short while being crushed by it. But next moment the shattering prison loosened and he splashed into the waters below.
Not the end yet?
The abomination was whipping the water around with roughly half of its tentacles, the other half trying to put out the stuck little metal toothpick from corner of its maw.
Kor swam in the direction of the shore, but the wilding waters and soaked clothing have slowed him direly. When he felt he moves more down than forward, the shore was yet a few meters to go and his strength rapidly decreased. The tentacles were still beating around randomly and could finish it all in a flash.
“Hold, Kor! Grab it! Grab the wood!”
Something splashed just in front of him. He gripped the thing and realized it is a long support beam. Brogur stayed as the last and was able to help.
He was quickly pulled forward. After a few feet he finally felt the muddy bottom and scraped up from the pool.
They both started to run without looking back. The sounds in the water were proving that Kor’s hit was a lucky one.
They managed to get quite far when a sharp metal cling disturbed the otherwise undescribable sounds. The monster succeeded to break the sword at least.
But the duo of last fighters already reached safety.
“Woe upon us! Four have fallen. And Bróin. Bróin!”
The encampment was full of sorrow.
Plusheila ran to Kor and clenched him, ignoring his slime-covered body. Her arms grasped him so strongly he lost his breath again. Then she stepped back, looked at him angrily and slapped on the face. Kor didn’t say nothing and just reciprocated her hug.
“What shall we do? We cannot pass the mountains to reach the eastern entrance…”
Bósi turned eyes to the sniveling dwarf and silenced him with piercing, stern look.
“Shut up! And don’t say this anymore! We will prepare and fight!” He pointed to the dwarf and continued: “You will be the first one to start. Get yourself two or three helpers and start to assemble the siege ballista!”
Brogur, shivering both from cold water and anger, was looking around and roaring:
“Ráthwald! You slug, what took you so long!” It wasn’t a question, just swearing.
The called dwarf better have not appeared.
Instead, another one came from behind.
“Lord Bósi, we have an interesting discovery. You should have a look.”
The dwarf leader turned to him, eyebrows disapprovingly curved.
“Wáfi, so this is what delayed all of you?”
Wáfi beckoned to Bósi to come to the rocky side of the access road. There were a few muddy, but also glittering bundles of… weapons.
“What at first looked like crack in the stone turned to be a narrow entrance to a cave. We overlooked it when we firstly went by it.”
Bósi got down on one knee and took a closer look at the piles. It consisted of axes, swords, maces and other different arms.
“Don’t tell… don’t tell me they were just lying there…“
“Of course not, my lord. But luckily Throttólf recognized ancient rune markings. It was an old cache.”
“They look old, but well preserved,” said Bósi with a pensive look.
“Very old, my lord,” explained Wáfi. “Me and my fellow blacksmiths estimate, that… that they are as old as the time before Khazâd-dûm was built, ehm, dug.“
Kor, who was watching all this, observed Bósi’s eyebrows to rise nearly to the top of his forehead.
Well, this is yet going to be interesting.
