Chapter 17: A Dead End

The tunnel began to get brighter and Ragnar was able to see a small flicker of light at the end. Could this be the source of his mother's voice? Ragnar began to quicken his pace.

The tunnel opened up into a large chamber that was filled with water and torches lined the wall. In the middle of the chamber rested a small altar on a patch of wet rocks. Ragnar couldn't see if anything rested on top of the altar from his position.

The water didn't seem very deep so Ragnar stuck his torch into the ground, undid his boots, and began to wade through. Once he reached the altar, Ragnar looked on its platform. He saw a funny-looking pair of shoes resting on top. They were white and pink, with three pairs of small wings: a large pair at the heel and two smaller pairs at the toe.

Ragnar sat down on the altar and thought for a moment, fondling the shoes between his hands. The voice that was his mother's had led him to this chamber. Inside the chamber was an altar with strange looking shoes on top. They would probably fascinate any young boy or girl who saw them. Alex had said that Pocos had found a strange pair shoes at the secret playground. If this was the secret playground, were these the shoes? And if that was the case, where was Pocos now?

Perhaps the only way to find out was to put the shoes on his feet. Ragnar wiped his feet dry and slowly began to slip one shoe on a foot. The wings on the shoe seemed to flutter for an instant, but moving his foot could have rustled it.

The soldier was about to slip the other shoe on when he heard a scratching sound. At first he didn't pay attention to it but he soon heard it again. It seemed to be getting louder and coming from all around him. Ragnar dropped the other shoe into the lake and grabbed his sword. He stood up slowly and carefully went down to the water. He looked around to see what was causing the noise and saw that the walls were starting to crumble around him. Was the entire chamber going to collapse because he took the shoes? Ragnar didn't want to wait around to find out. He started to run into the water back to the chamber entrance.

He hadn't even crossed halfway when the walls suddenly erupted in a spray of rock and dirt. Several flying stones bombarded Ragnar and he had to duck down to avoid getting pummeled to death.

When the rocks had passed, Ragnar stood back up and took a quick glance around. Several holes lined the walls and ceilings, as if something had blown them out. He stepped forward, keeping an eye on the holes. The chamber remained quiet aside from the occasional tiny splash caused by a pebble falling into the water.

It came without warning. The holes erupted with masses of dark fur and flew at Ragnar. The soldier swung his sword to his left and he felt the blade cut through flesh and bone. He saw several furry animals drop into the water and sink, bright red blood floating on the surface.

Ragnar didn't have any time to ponder it though, for the attack had come from all sides. Several creatures began to cling to his body and bite into any exposed skin with large incisors. Sharp pain shot through Ragnar's body as he felt dozens of teeth sink in. Enraged, he threw his body out and several of the furry creatures flew off of him, falling into the water.

Ragnar had a moment to look at his attackers. They were large gophers with deep gray fur. Their eyes had a strange glare as their noses twitched. Several of them had blood on their large teeth. They were small but there were so many of them that Ragnar didn't know if he could defeat them all.

The gophers charged again, leaping at Ragnar with incisors barred forward. The soldier swung his sword in great swipes, cutting several down as they leapt, but a few got by and hung onto Ragnar's arms and legs. He tried to shake them off but if he concentrated on them instead of the ones that were charging him, he would be left completely defenseless.

Realizing the odds were against him, Ragnar decided to make a run for it. He slashed his sword behind him, shook off three gophers hanging off of his back, and turned to run to the chamber entrance.

Had he not been busy, Ragnar would have gasped in shock. A score of healers were lined up at the chamber entrance, blocking his escape. He was trapped!

Not wanting to get closer to the healer group, Ragnar backed up, heading back to the altar in the middle of the chamber. The gophers were starting to crowd around him, biting into his legs. Grimacing in pain, Ragnar slashed his sword down on both sides, cutting the gophers in half with most swipes. But as he slashed down, he was open to high attacks and the gophers leapt at him there. Most just bounced off of his armor but some grabbed onto his shoulders and bit down into his unprotected skin. Ragnar yelled in pain as they struck deep, his blood spilling out through open wounds. The soldier became completely deranged and began to pick the gophers off of his shoulders by hand and squeezing the life out of them.

So enraged was he that he did not even notice the gophers attack his legs again. The soldier sensed a pattern forming, that they would attack high when he attacked low and vice-versa. He tried to formulate a battle plan in the dizziness that was creeping on him. Nothing came to, as he was never trained to deal with this type of situation. Ragnar realized there could be no escape from this endless onslaught, but he wouldn't go down without a heroic fight.

He backed up to the altar, hacking and slashing deranged gophers left and right, high and low. Blood was streaming out of multiple wounds but Ragnar didn't care. Too much adrenaline was pumping through his body, forcing him to ignore the pain. The water was soon blood red, filled with dozens of gopher corpses. Dizziness was now upon Ragnar and he fell, his back collapsing on the pile of rocks supporting the altar. His sword was getting much too heavy so he dropped it and began to fight with his bare hands, swatting, squeezing, crushing with just as much force.

The gophers were soon covering him and the attacks were coming from all directions. Ragnar was beginning to tire, his arms weighted down by fatigue. For a moment, he thought he was going to die.

But only for a moment for he suddenly felt refreshed and new, as if he had just swallowed a dozen medical herbs. He could feel his multiple wounds close. Ragnar roared to life as he burst upward, thrusting the gophers off of his body.

The soldier couldn't explain the cause of his renewed strength but he took the opportunity to grab his sword and begin to slash away at the gophers again.

As he fought, he continued to feel his strength return and his wounds heal. What was causing this healing? Ragnar then remembered the healers and took a quick glance in their direction. He couldn't believe what he saw.

Half of the healers were attacking the gophers! They were using their tentacles to strangle the smaller foe as they came out of their tiny tunnels in the wall. The rest of the group was waving their tentacles in curious gestures at Ragnar. Were they the cause of his rapid healing?

Ragnar didn't ponder it for long, as the gophers at hand were a more immediate concern. He grabbed his sword and ran on top of the altar. If they wanted to get him, they were going to have to climb up to him. The soldier was feeling completely refreshed now and struck out with deadly accuracy, sparing none that came within a few feet. The pile of dead gophers at the base of the altar grew higher and higher. From on top, he could see the chamber more clearly. The attacking healers were closing in around the altar, killing the gophers on the outer perimeter.

In a few minutes, Ragnar sliced apart the last of the lethal gophers and didn't have a scratch left on him.

The soldier took a few deep breaths, letting his adrenaline subside for the moment but not for too long. The healers were regrouping back at the chamber entrance. Had he defeated one enemy only to have to defeat another? Ragnar counted the number of healers. There were many, far too many for him to defeat on his own. But if he was going to die, he would send as many of the monsters to death's hands before him.

"Well?" he shouted, his voice echoing along the high walls. "What are you waiting for? Come and get me!" He gripped his sword tighter, mentally preparing for the initial assault.

Instead, one healer of the entire group floated forward. Ragnar was confused but kept his guard up. The healer stopped mid-way between the chamber entrance and the altar. It floated still for a few seconds, its tentacles waving.

"Hel-lo," it said in a strangled, watery voice. "My... name... is... Hea-lie."