
by
Tempest » Wed May 09, 2018 6:44 am
After a few minutes, the Knights paused to take stock of their situation. Except for Paul, no one had been seriously injured except for a few scrapes, bruises, and a crushed finger. It took Telta some concerted effort to remove the black shaft from Paul's shoulder, and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was revealed that the tip was not poisoned. Still, it was a deep wound and would take some time to mend.
"Well, so much for secrecy," one of the Knights muttered. "Whoever set up this trap now knows that it was sprung. The sound could probably be heard above ground, let alone all throughout the tunnels."
"True, but they also know that it means Pallando has been released. They are hoping he was killed in the trap, but they don't know for certain. They will be wary of a wizard, even one without his staff," Telta noted.
"That may be wishful thinking," Erinhue observed darkly. "I fear they have forced our hand by making only one available way for us to follow. We walk straight into the dragon's mouth."
Pallando nodded with a wry smile. "At least we will walk with both eyes open."
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Akara had descended into the passageway behind the imperious elf, but the darkness was so profound that she feared she had lost him within a few twists and turns of the tunnels. She had no light of her own, having muffled her torch outside, and she cursed her foolishness as she stood breathless in the darkness. But then, as her eyes adjusted, she realized that there WAS a faint glow that painted the walls in front of her. As she walked cautiously forward, she saw the flickering of light grow wider.
This gave her a chance to scan her surroundings and her heart sank as she realized that there was nowhere for her hide. If anyone came into the passageway at that moment, she would be utterly and completely exposed. She would have no choice but to attack or flee back the way she had come. Either way, she felt certain she would meet her end. And for what? She did not even know what she had gotten involved with.
The passageway widened suddenly into three different directions. She stood still before each tunnel, straining to hear anything that might give her direction. Voices, slightly muffled, came drifting from the tunnel at the right. From the middle, she could hear the clicking of boots on stone. The left was completely silent, but she felt a strange, ominous darkness radiating from it. Hearing voices coming closer from the tunnel on the right, she quickly slipped into the left tunnel, hoping for concealment.
The voices were not in a language she understood. It was different from any other tongue she had ever heard, and she had heard many. It was beautiful, in many ways, but the tone in which it was spoken made it ugly to her ears. There was anger behind every word, and a bitterness she recognized despite not understanding the words themselves. She had heard many a man speak this way in the past---the voice was speaking orders, and the click of boots that followed revealed that these orders were being carried out.
A new voice suddenly entered the conversation, and this voice lacked the anger of the first. With it's entrance, the language also changed and Akara strained to hear them, realizing she could understand.
"I think, with a little more time, it will work," the new voice said.
"It would be better if it were sooner than later. Mithril Knights have been seen in Kuw. They are nearly on our doorstep," the angry voice replied.
"They will not look for us here. And even if they did, they are too small a group to be a threat to us. We have outlived far greater dangers, for longer than the Mithril Knights have even existed," a third voice said assuredly.
"Then why even bother with the woman? We should have left her where she fell," the first voice asked.
There was a pause, and Akara imagined that the angry voice had become angrier. When he finally spoke, she could tell she had guessed correctly, for his words were traced with poison. "Those of the younger race should not question the wisdom of the Eldar. We have walked this world before your people drew breath, and we will walk it long after your bodies lay in the dust."