Part 33
Barred Path
Their pace was slightly slower as the girl had difficulty keeping up, but before dusk they camped in one of the Dragon’s Burrows, which was large enough to protect them from the elements.
The girl fell immediately to sleep while the Trapper ate and Uncle Ben slipped a cup of cold tea. The Vassal of Ice watched the night till the sun rose and, silently greeting the sun, was Sworder standing at the edge of the burrow. “You’re up early,” he said, without turning.
“I am no longer sleepy,” the girl said as she quietly approached, as to not wake the others, “Oh! Your cloak,” she continued, beginning to remove the teal cloak.
“Keep it,” Sworder said, “It is cold today.”
“Yes, it is,” she said, wrapping it tighter around herself. “I can even see my breath.”
There the two sat, looking out upon the barren landscape as the dim pale light of the sun slowly bathed the land. What once seemed desolate, now seemed almost a pleasant place, and the once scarred land, now branded its own beauty.
“Since we are all up, we should get a move on,” the Trapper suddenly said, as he started to pack up. The Trapper looked out the opening at the cloudy sky above them. “I dislike this shift in the weather,” he continued.
“What do you plan to do?” the girl asked.
“I’ll hope for a break in the coldsnap.”
The girl looked back into the burrow, “How far do you think it goes.”
“Some say to the core of the mountains,” the Trapper said. “Don’t go thinkin’ about exploring. Many of the burrows converge and they become a maze of passageways. I would rather not have you hopelessly lost.”
“Yes, sir,” the girl said, sinking deeper into the cloak she was given, embarrassed.
“If we are ready then, let’s be off,” the Trapper said.
“You’re doing better today,” Uncle Ben said.
“Yes I am.” The girl said, smiling. “Actually, I’m having trouble remembering much of yesterday.”
“Is that so?” Uncle Ben said. “You were quite tired.”
The Trapper did not let them finish their conversation and led them out and then down the path. However, as the day continued, the sky grew darker and it was mid-may when small snowflakes began descending softly, floating about the party.
“Snow!” the girl cried, running ahead of the group twirling about the flakes.
“By the…” the Trapper said. “Our luck won’t hold.”
“Forgive her,” Uncle Ben said, “We rarely get snow to fall in southern Selia.”
“She’s about to see a lot more of it,” the Trapper said. “It never just snows in these mountains, hurry.”
His increased pace and hurry was justified by the slowly increasing snowfall. In only minutes snow had already begun coating the ground and it showed no sign of halting. Before long the wind was swirling around them and it was becoming difficult to see any distance ahead. The group was forced to connect themselves with rope to insure none of them would to get lost in the flurry.
The snow had already begun to pile up around them when the Trapper led them into a large Dragon’s Burrow. He immediately set up the tent across the cave entrance to block them from the elements.
“This is trouble,” the Trapper said.
“What’s wrong?” the girl asked.
“As I said, it never just snows. If this blizzard holds we may awake tomorrow under 10 feet of snow. This will vastly slow our progress, but so long as the weather stays calm we should be able to continue.”
“How long will it delay us?” Sworder asked.
“Two days at best, but the more important problem we face is the cold and slick conditions,” the Trapper said. “Be prepared for tomorrow. Under these conditions the Ice Trolls will be out.”
“Ice Trolls?” the girl asked. “What are they?”
“With a bit of luck you may not have to find out,” the Trapper said. “For now we should all get some rest, we’ll try an early start tomorrow.”
“Bad timing for a storm,” Ranin said.
“If this storm had been called by nature you would be right,” Namic replied.
“So the Leprechauns are on the move?” Ranin asked.
“They have already made their next move,” Namic said. “All we can do is wait and see what happens.”
“Is that so?” Ranin said as he watched the small group prepare camp and ate in the dark tunnel.
Evening set in as the group bed down for the night. Ranin, bored of watching sleeping faces, had slowly begun scouring the mountain side and now he found himself watching a mother goat herd her lost kid back to safety in the icy storm which still racked the mountain side..
“It is here,” Namic announced, and without waiting for him to elaborate, Ranin flipped his vision towards the Dragon’s Burrow where the group had sought shelter in. Just as he did so, the tent fabric, which had been holding the elements back, ripped in half letting the snow and ice blow into the cave, as a large Ice Troll emerged through the opening.
It was a gigantic beast reaching more than a head above the Trapper. Its body was as translucent as cloudy ice and its limbs as thick as trees. The Ice Troll’s eyes seemed nothing more than flames inset into icy sockets. The creature roared as it charged through the four feet of snow, barely hindered by the snowfall.
The Trapper was the first to react, jumping up as if he had already been prepared, calling for Grota. Not waiting for Grota to finish his opening line, the Trapper pulled a thin iron bar out of his bag and chucked it at the Kazan, “Take this and hurry!”
Sworder also sprang to action even as the iron bar flew through the air. Kicking the girl awake he rushed forward staging as he did so. From the blinding light emerged the Vassal of Earth heaving his large axe over his head, even as Uncle Ben grabbed the girl and pulled her deeper into the burrow.
The Vassal charged the Ice Troll as the bar of steel the Trapper threw reached Grota, who seized it, before it faded to dust. The Vassal struck at the Ice Troll but it did not attempt to dodge the blow but instead it blocked it with its arm. The axe dug into the icy arm of the Ice Troll but it simply shrugged off the blow and pushed the Vassal back.
The light around Grota faded and there stood a figure made of steel. The figure ran forward sending a punch straight to the chest of the Ice Troll. Stumbling backwards from the blow, the Ice Troll recovered and slammed Grota with the back of its hand, sending him into the side of the wall.
The Vassal used the opportunity to slip behind the monster. He smashed his axe into the back of the Ice Troll before propelling himself upwards. Ripping the axe out he swung down aiming for its head. However the Ice Troll turned and reached up grabbing the axe head in its hand. The axe sunk deep into the Ice Trolls palm as its icy fingers slowly closed around the axe retching it out of the Vassal’s hand.
The Vassal slammed into the ground and the Ice Troll tossed the axe to the side even as Grota pulled himself from the cave wall. Moving forward, Grota delivered a solid punch to the Ice Troll’s side. The blow pushed the creature back and when it attempted to counter Grota withdrew out of reach. Encased in his metal skin Grota was slow but he still managed to evade the attacks of the Ice Troll.
The creature continued its attempts to apprehend Grota as he measured his attacks to keep him outside of the Ice Trolls reach. The weight of the metal skin, however, drained Grota’s stamina quickly and eventually the Troll seized onto him with both its mighty hands. Ice latched onto the metal skin of Grota as the Ice Troll smashed him into the ceiling.
The whole burrow shook violently and rocks dislodged from above raining down upon the occupants. Grota’s body was flung to the floor, where he attempted to rise once more. But before he could act, the Vassal of Earth charged past him. Scooping up his axe, he swung it over his head as he leapt at the Ice Troll. The axe gleamed in the faint star light which seeped into the dark burrow before crashing down onto the Ice Troll with a loud crash. The axe head impacted into the shoulder of the Ice Troll burying itself into its icy flesh, the ground around them shaking violently.
Before the Vassal could recover, the Ice Troll twisted and punched the Vassal straight in the chest, sending him against the far wall and his axe skating against the ground. Ice quickly sealed up the wound spreading from the creature’s core, even as it bent forward and roared. Shards of ice ejected from its body spraying the cave with deadly projectiles. Gorta braced himself as the shards glanced off his metal skin and the Vassal deflected the attack with his axe.
The girl gave a cry as Uncle Ben pushed her behind him. “What is that thing?” she said, as the burrow shook around them.
“What matters more is how to stop it,” Uncle Ben said.
The Trapper flung himself against the cave walls before one of the shards struck him and ripped through his bandaged side. “This has just not been my week,” he growled as he pushed a piece of cloth against his open side.
The Ice Troll charged Grota before the metal man could recover. Boring its shoulder into its target, the Ice Troll sent Grota through the length of the cave, landing near the injured Trapper.
Once more the Vassal of Earth stepped up and faced the snarling beast before him. Using his axe to keep it at bay, he pushed it back towards the front of the burrow. But the Ice Troll did not let him push it out of the cave. It lunged forward with a mighty swing of its fist. It struck the center of the Vassal’s axe, almost splitting his hand in half but sending the Vassal skidding back.
“Kazan,” the Trapper called, “Attack the ceiling.”
“What? But that will cause the cave to collapse!” the Vassal said.
“I know.”
“But we will be sealed in. We could not get out.”
“And we’ll never see the light of day if we can’t defeat that thing.”
The Vassal clicked his tongue before stepping forward. The Ice Troll attacked him as he approached but he bounded to the side and launched off the walls high into the air. Hurling his Axe into the air, it shone like the sun far brighter than before then with a loud boom it slammed into the ceiling with a terrible crash. The whole mountain around them shook and groaned and stones once more rained down.
But where the axe had struck, a crack began streaking down towards the entrance of the Dragon’s Burrow. Suddenly the two halves of the Burrow collapse inwards and a shower of stones rained down upon the Ice Troll. It roared one last time before being swallowed by the mountain. The Vassal landed heavily and stumbled backwards, away from the destruction that he had wrought.
“Sworder!” the girl said, breaking away from Uncle Ben.
“Wrong way,” said the Vassal as he grabbed the girl and ran towards the others, who retreated farther into the cave to avoid being swallowed up in the rubble.
The group now looked back at the nearly fifty feet of rock separating them from the entrance, and the Vassal returned the girl to her feet before falling to one knee.
“Are you alright,” asked the girl.
“I am fine,” he said as she helped him up. “That battle just took a lot out of me,” he continued, leaning against her.
“You always give it your all,” the girl said, smiling sweetly at him. “You should get some rest.”
The girl helped him to the side of the cave before running and helping the Trapper wrap his side.
“What are we going to do now?” Sworder asked from where he sat.
“We can’t dig our way out, and even if we could there’s no way to know if that thing is still waiting for us,” the Trapper said. “Our only choice is to test the labyrinth and travel deeper into the burrows. There is no telling what may be down there. I have only heard stories of the depths and have never met a man who had journeyed down and returned. Few have dared to take that route, but let us not dwell on it now. Rather we should get some rest.”
The girl and the rest of the party glanced towards the other end of the burrow. It disappeared into the complete darkness, not telling how far it delved nor where it led.
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