The Tunnels Far Beneath the Ground

"W-Wait. A-Arbor B-B-B-Brock? From the, the, the, the, scroll? W-With the v-v-v-v-vermin? A-And–"

"Quiet, young fox," the massive badger's face was grim. "You would be correct. I did write the scroll. But you know not the whole tale."

"W-Wait? The, the, the whole tale? What's th-that–"

"Silence! Let me speak my piece!" The blue flame creating the shape of the badger flared up, and Mervo gave a yelp of fear and scooted back.

"Now, you will not interrupt, lest I give you permission to speak. You will listen, and it will change you."

Mervo bit his lip to keep his mouth shut. The flames seemed to relax, and Arbor continued.

"Young one, I am a doomed beast. Since I died, my soul has been contained in this spell. I created this spell, so I could undo what I had done. I now give you permission to speak."

Mervo immediately poured out his questions. "Like you're doomed? You will never go on to the Dark Forest, or whatever awaits in the afterlife?"

The badger shook his head grimly. "I will be able to go on. Though I must relay my information. Young one, do you know why I would willingly imprison myself upon this land? You still have permission to speak."

"N-No. W-W-W-W-W-W-Why?"

The massive badger grimaced. "Once I relay my information I will be able to continue to the Dark Forest in peace."

"I'm still confused."

"I now take away your permission to speak. You will silently listen as I tell you my greatest mistake. A sin that would condemn me forever in the place of scum in the Dark Forest, so I have stayed here to redeem myself, to pass on the information, to help fix what I had done."

"W–"

"SILENCE!" The flames flared up, and Mervo shrunk himself into the wall. He looked for a corner to hide in, but to his dismay it was a circular room.

Arbor continued. "I committed what is among the greatest sins in history for selfish reasons. I was young. I took risks. I gambled. I meant for it to end well, but I failed.

"I was once a young badger with great ambitions. My father was the ruler of an empire that unified us all. But I sought to create the fall of his empire."

Before Mervo could say something, Arbor cut him off.

"It was my fault of the vermin's fall. I brought it upon this world. But I had my reasons.

"The empire was crumbling. We were unified, but we were in tremendous debt to the east, crime rates soared, and all other nations looked down upon us. So I concocted a plan. The Empire would fall, yes, I already knew that. The way I planned it would collapse into a great war on itself, divided. Then I would come and save it, to fix what had been done. It would be a risk, but I would come out the ruler, but instead of having it like my father had, there would not be a great empire trying to rule all the land, rather a series of nations helping each other.

"But I knew not how to achieve my plans. It was just a vague idea I had, and I knew that it could risk everything, and if something went wrong, we'd be doomed.

"Then she came. She had an answer. She was the world-traveler. She had been to many different worlds, parallel universes, all intertwined, and she could travel between them. She had seen many different things, and worlds she had been to seemed the answer to my plan. I would use magic, then I would reverse the spell, and l would form a new kingdom from the ashes of the empire.

"So I planted an idea in my father's mind. You read about in the scroll I left. He hated the idea, so I used her help. The Pine Marten from the other world. She could control him, force him to like the idea, so that's just what she did.

"And then she forced Xeymar to corrupt the idea. I never liked Xeymar Silvertung. He would be blamed for the mess, and I would be the hero.

"So it went. The creatures were changed to how it was in her world. And I would stop them. It would be simple to get the generals back together and free themselves."

The badger's grim expressions was replaced by a sorrowful one as he hung his head. "I failed. I created this back-up plan, and I created Salamandastron. But the land was in chaos. The generals were running amok, so I traveled to Plan B. I would put out the fire. I know give you permission to speak."

Mervo bit his lip, then shouted with all his might, the young fox snapped. "WHAT? YOU BETRAYED YOUR FAMILY, YOUR LAND, FOR YOUR OWN REASONS! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A NOBLE BADGER, AND YOU CERTAINLY SEEMED TO BE IN YOUR WRITINGS! NO DOUBT THE OTHERS, THE OTTERS, HARES, AND WHATNOT WORSHIPPED YOU! I SAW YOUR LETTERS! TELLING THEM NOT TO JOIN THE PLAN SO THEY WOULD HELP YOU LATER!"

The flames seemed to flare greater than they had before, then they dissipated. "I planned for it to work out in the–"

"OH, WHO CARES? YOU WERE A STUPID, FOOLISH, IDIOT! YOU ARE THE REASON VERMIN ARE BAD! IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT! IT'S THE FAULT OF ONE, SELFISH BADGER THAT WE LOOKED UP TO AS A HERO!"

"I was basing off of the Pine Marten's worlds–"

"I'M VERMIN! IF IT WASN'T FOR MY ANCESTOR, I WOULD BE JUST LIKE THOSE CRUEL ONES, AND THEY ARE CRUEL BECAUSE OF YOU! THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS! I HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE, FOR YOU ARE!"

"I know, I–"

"OH, REALLY? YOU, ARBOR BROCK, ARE SCUM! YOU ARE WORSE THEN ALL THE VERMIN IN THE WORLD COMBINED! IF YOU KNEW, THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU FREE YOURSELF OF THE BLOODWRATH? YOU COULD'VE! AT LEAST SAVE THE BADGERS FROM THAT CURSE!"

"I didn't think it was necessary..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Arbor bit his lip. "I had two sons, Gordoc and Tabura. Tabura freed himself later, so I didn't think it was necessary."

"SO WHY ARE THERE STILL BLOODWRATHERS?"

Arbor hung his head. "I... disinherited him."

"YOU WHAT?"

Brock sighed. "Tabura found out what I was hiding. We got in a heated argument... I don't really remember the details, but I disinherited him in the end, then Tabura freed himself."

Mervo growled. "Tabura, that's a title..."

"Aye, those of his line mate with bloodwrathers, and their children have a chance to become peaceful."

Mervo regained his anger. "YOU DISINHERITED HIM! YOU LET HIM GO! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"Listen, I was working on finding a solution to putting out the sacred flame."

"OH, HOW FAR DID YOU GET?" Mervo glared furiously at the badger.

Arbor frowned. "The cure to the spell, is the all-cure. That's wat I found. Nothing more."

Mervo frowned. It looked as if he would lash out again, but then he sank back down. Oh my. I just did that... to a badger lord.

Lord Arbor looked ashamed, and he was. He gave a deep sigh. "Young Mervo-"

"You did good coming back. Even if it was the one good thing you did, it was a noble sacrifice."

"I... see. Anything more you would like to know?"

"What was the name of the Pine Marten world-traveler."

The fire-badger growled. He spat the name out like a bad word. "Igeyorhm."

Mervo nodded. Looking up he asked, "How do I get out of these tunnels?"

The badger frowned. I can get you to Hodbar."

"Hodbar?"

"'Tis a great Iron mine under the north mountain. Those there will help you."

Mervo looked up. "How do I get there?"

"The wisps in this cave will guide you."

"The-"

"Magic spirits. They gave you those impulses to go down through the forks and whatnot."

"Well, then I'll be off..."

The badger nodded. Then a great flash of blue fire filled the cave, then vanished, leaving behind a pitch-black circular room.