Underkeeper

Bernt wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he woke to find Jori pawing at his face, her sharp nails raking over his cheek.

He groaned, trying to push her off, but she put both hands over his mouth, muffling the sound. That was when he finally recognized the tension emanating from her. She was scared. Just as tellingly, she wasn’t making a sound.

They were in danger.

Standing up slowly, Bernt pressed himself against the wall and pulled out his pyromancer’s wand. He strained, trying to sense whatever it was Jori sensed. When that didn’t work, he tried using his familiar bond instead.

He couldn’t hear anything, but Jori could, and it was getting louder. At first it was just a soft patter; then it resolved into the scratch of clawed feet on stone. Something was coming—a lot of somethings.

Wildly, Bernt looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. If they came in here, they would find the tunnel he’d made. And then they’d find him. He held his breath as they approached, trying not to make any noise.

Seconds later, he nearly sighed out loud in relief when he realized that the sound was now getting further away. They weren’t passing by his door at all, but rather moving through a nearby tunnel.

Letting his breath out as slowly as possible, he sagged to the floor. There was sweat down his back, and he suddenly felt cold. But it was alright, he was safe for the moment.

Of course, that was also the moment Jori flitted out the door, toward the sound.

Bernt clenched his jaw to resist the urge to call after her. She was being reckless, but he couldn’t stop her, not without a proper demonic pact. Also, they did need to know what was going on here, and Jori was much better at this sort of thing than he was. Closing his eyes, he focused on her to see through her eyes.

***

Jori scampered up the rough stone wall, digging her claws in for a good grip as she advanced toward the bad lizards. She didn’t know much about these specific ones, but most creatures didn’t look up as much as they should. She always felt safer when she was higher up than whatever she was observing.

The corridor outside was a dead end with a few doors along its walls. They didn’t smell interesting, and the sound was getting away, so she moved toward the main tunnel and poked her head around the corner.

There was nothing to see here but bare walls, but she could still hear them, so she followed after.

They weren’t moving very quickly, and she saw the dim light of their crystal lanterns ahead less than a minute later. It was a small group, and none of them were wearing the hard beetle parts of the others before. They were also smaller than those others, probably young ones, and following a single adult.

As she watched them, the smallest one started chattering at the others in a high-pitched, yappy kind of language. Another one answered sharply and smacked the little lizard thing. The rest snickered. A moment after that, silence fell again.

She felt a little bit bad for it. She knew what it was like, always being the smallest. Back home, in the place before, imps were the smallest—food for the fiends.

The group of spawnlings kept walking for a few more minutes before reaching another intersection—more of a big square, really, with big pillars and lots of tunnel entrances. Here, there were more lights and many more lizard things.

That wasn’t so good, Jori decided. This was too many. Besides, she’d seen enough. Bernt wanted to know where they went. Now he would know. She should leave.

Just then, though, she heard a new sound—not the lizards’ yapping noises, but human voices. Shrinking further back into the shadows of the tunnel, she looked for the source.

Then she saw it. Two humans were walking behind one of the winged lizard things. It carried a staff, and the humans seemed very interested in it. They must have been old, with gray in their hair, and neither were restrained. Something was wrong with them, though. Normal humans were always looking at each other, or they were looking at other things to avoid looking at each other. These ones just looked toward the lizard’s staff, but not really at it, either. They were staring at nothing. Every few seconds, the winged lizard yapped something at them, and they answered, sort of dreamlike.

Jori didn’t know what all this meant. But she was sure Bernt would know what to do. Hissing to herself in quiet satisfaction, she turned and scampered back the way she came.

***

Back in the storage chamber, Bernt sat wondering what this meant. The kobold sorcerers were enthralling prisoners using some charm or mind control spell. But for what? Were they trying to get information about Halfbridge’s defenses? They’d already lost the element of surprise—it seemed more than a bit late for this kind of intelligence gathering.

Alternatively, they might want information about the invading adventurers or the guild. Maybe. That didn’t feel right either, though. The kobolds had been ready for them. For all Bernt knew, they’d mined out that entire lower level as a battleground, leaving their young and their treasure protected up above.

That presented him with a dilemma. If the kobolds or their dragon master were trying to get specific information out of the captive adventurers, then rescuing them might be very time-sensitive. He had no way of knowing how long it would take to tunnel out of the dungeon, and taking that time might be a big risk.

Alternatively, he could try to free the prisoners himself—or at least someone who could help him get out more quickly. But that might be an even greater risk. He had no idea where the prisoners were being held, or if he could even reach them.

In the end, he could only do so much.

Dragging himself up to his feet, Bernt then made his way past a pile of haphazardly stacked beetle-carapace armor to a back corner of the room. Then he raised his wand and started tunneling again.

Digging his way out of the dungeon was the only reasonably safe way to make sure that the city and the guild heard what was happening in here, and he didn’t have a moment to lose.

***

Jori crawled along the ceiling as quietly as possible. Stupid groups of lizards kept getting in the way. Over and over she had to go back, go around, hide, and wait.

So annoying.

Bernt felt distant through the bond, like he was concentrating on other things, but she could sense him well enough to use his position to orient herself. Mostly. She wasn’t really sure which tunnel she was in now, and she had been trying to get back for a while now. She knew which direction to go—and she would go, just as soon as the stupid noisy yappy kobold-food went away. She bared her teeth and hissed in frustration, then went dead still as she heard familiar youthful yapping.

The older one with her team of spawnlings turned a corner, pulling a squeaky mining cart by a long rope. It was piled high with corpses—more of the lizard creatures. As they passed underneath her, she could smell it. A warm, spicy… something, wafting up from the dead. She need-wanted it. It made her… thirsty. Or something.

Jori couldn’t leave it behind. She crept along at a distance, but never let the cart out of her sight. She was going the wrong way, she knew. She could feel the bond getting weaker. But she knew where he was. He’d be fine, and she’d find him again.

The kobolds always walked so funny in their strange little patterns on the floor, weird little hops in random places, but she needed to focus.

She followed them for what felt like a long time, winding through tunnels and intersections.

As she passed by another opening, she threw a quick glance inside as she always did, to make sure no one saw her. This time, though, something was different and she froze in instinctive terror. A wall of dark-purple scales moved on the other side, and she heard the rumble of a huge, deep voice. As it shifted, she caught a glimpse of a single, massive foot, each toe ending in a razor-sharp claw longer than she was tall.

That was a very big lizard thing! The cart turned a corner ahead and Jori dashed past the opening to catch up, still shaking.

For once, she was relieved at how small she was—something that big would never take notice of her. Right?