Chapter 18 - Life ain't that easy

Dalrus kicked a pebble over and watched it as it bounced against the rocky cliffs on its way down. The soft, dry noises it made as it hit that enormous wall of stone again and again echoed in the narrow space around them. Him and Thano were currently transgressing along a passage in between the mountain, making their way up towards the rocky peaks, particularly towards a small depression along the walls where the harpies had built their nests on.

Thano had shown their destination with a telescope as they were climbing. It wasn't on a visible spot from the ground, so they couldn't simply get the dwarves to catapult the extremely dangerous and deadly explosives they were now currently carrying.

"A fine work, she is!" The dwarven engineer had proudly said as he slapped - but not too hard - the spiky metal ball with a timer strapped to its surface. "Not too heavy, but packing' jus' enough power ta' sends those blasted bird lasses scurrying off with their feathers between their legs!"

As Dalrus had been awakened about two hours before the sun had even risen, at that moment he had been in some sort of trance state where he was vaguely aware of the world around him while his mind was somehow detached from his body and transitioning through a dimension where he was still sleeping soundly on his net. So he ended up losing some details of the dwarf's explanation, such as how to safely store and handle the bombs without blowing himself and Thano up on the long way up the huge mountains. So far he had simply placed them both on the bag strapped to his back and nothing too deadly had occurred yet, so he figured they were on the green for now.

The climb itself had started easy enough. His elven superior had shown him some fancy gadgets; a retracting rope around his waist with some metal spikes they could hammer into the wall to hold them in case they fell - although neither Dalrus nor Thano had felt the necessity to use even one of them so far - spiky boots to keep their adherence against the dusty ground - which he actually found kind of handy for the first five steps, then immediately left behind as he realized those things weighed more than the bombs he was carrying - a safety chute in case they fell - Dalrus didn't even bother taking his along with him - and last but not least, flares in case they needed help - Dalrus had left his along with his chute.

They had been making their way up for the past hour and a half. Thano seemed pretty cheerful about it, humming to himself and sustaining a smile as they walked among narrow rocky paths, climbed the rough walls and slowly circled the gigantic mountains to approach the harpy's nest, whilst Dalrus was bored out of his mind and desperately wishing he had remembered to bring apples with him. It was a true mental ordeal not to ask if they were there yet every seven seconds, an even bigger one not to scream in frustration. "Bloody hell, how much longer until we are there?" He finally said after two long and obscenely dull hours of climbing.

"Not much more, young one!" Thano happily replied as they scaled a particularly narrow stone wall. "I'd say we should make it there before sundown at this rate!"

Suddenly the urge to scream was almost surpassing his other ones.

'Oh my gods, I'm gonna go crazy. This is too dull.' He thought, scaling the wall effortlessly like a spider, his hands coated in shadow energy and giving the adherence of glue to his palms and feet as he climbed and climbed and climbed. 'For the love of the Light, something please happen. Any bloody thing. Evil voice in my head, are you in there? Do you want to threaten me and my family of certain damnation again? Please? Maybe just chat a bit? Do you have any family or friends?'

"Whew! I think we made it far enough for now!" Thano's voice suddenly came from above. Looking up, Dalrus saw the elf was sitting on top of a smooth protrusion on the rocky wallside, his legs crossed and his bag laying over his lap. "Let's take a moment to rest up and enjoy a nice meal, what do you say, Dal?"

"Sounds like a dandy idea, mate." Dalrus replied, sighing internally as he hopped up to where Thano was and leaning his back against the rocky wall. "So... What do we have for breakfast? We left in such a hurry I didn't even grab anything to eat."

The elven rogue was messing around in his bag, then looked back over his shoulder at Dalrus as he pulled a loaf of bread from there. "Oh... You mean you didn't bring anything?" He asked, taking a bite out of the bread's crust. "Hmmmm... That's too bad. Guess I'm the only one enjoying a nice meal, then!"

Dalrus' eye twitched. 'Son of a...' "So, uh... Is that elven bread, or...?" He said out loud, trying to get his mind off his hunger.

Looking down at his bread, Thano simply shrugged and took another bite. "Eh. It's what you could call 'rations bread'. It's made to last a long time in our bags, so we can keep it there for days, even weeks without it going bad. Nothing like the bread of Quel'Thalas, though."

Dalrus lifted his brows at that. "Oh... I see. Uh... Sorry about what happened to your city, by the way."

Thano shrugged again. "Eh... I don't have a lot of memories about it. I'm kinda young on elf terms. Not even two hundred years old yet. I've only been to the capital a few times, so I don't remember much of it. Since I was little, I've been scouting and exploring lands for us. Although... Yeah. When I heard the news... Well, the thing is..." Thano's look seemed a little distant. "It's not the loss of the city itself that shook us most... But rather... It was the loss of the Sunwell."

Dalrus blinked. "The sunwhatnow?"

The elf gave him a surprised look. "You never heard of it? It's a pretty big deal, even outside of our city. The Sunwell is... Well, used to be... One of the greatest magic sources in all land. Elves are naturally attuned to magic, so we drew a lot of sustenance from it. Well, some more than others. I was never really much the type to snort arcane powder through my nose, so I've been less affected by its loss than most. But some people are already going through magical withdrawal. Not a pretty sight. Some of them go crazy. Others grow desperate and start to search for new sources of magic to feed their hunger."

The younger rogue shivered. "Crikey. You mean like some sort of... Addiction to magic?"

Thano nodded. "Yes, I suppose that is the best way to describe it. Although, ever since arriving here, me and my kind... We have been sensing... Something." He shrugged, then finished stuffing his mouth full of bread. "Hmmm... Like... There's something here... Another source of power. It's pretty faint, though. Like it's been here a long time ago, and now it's much, much weaker..."

"Huh. Go figure." Clutching his stomach, Dalrus sighed and looked up. They had made a decent long way already, but they weren't even halfway up along the mountain's height. "Say... Isn't there a better... Faster way to get up there? Like... A path that won't take our entire bloody lives?"

He saw the elf launch him a curious look. "Why, are you growing tired already?" He said with a mischievous smile.

Dalrus sighed. "No, just the opposite of that. If I knew where to go, I'm pretty sure I could get there before the boredom kills me."

Thano let out a hearty laugh at that. "Well, that's quite the claim to make! So you're saying the climb so far has been nothing to you, eh?"

Dalrus frowned. "I would think that's pretty obvious, yes."

The elf's expression switched to a rather curious one that Dalrus couldn't quite make out during that moment. He was staring straight at Dalrus while chewing on his bread, his back bent forward in a relaxed position. "Hmmmm... Alright then. As you wish... We shall be taking the faster route from now on!" He suddenly said, hopping up on his feet and turning around to resume their climb along the wall. "You coming?"

His stomach grumbling, the youth had no choice but to let out a long sigh and follow the elf. "Yeah, sure... Maybe some real exercise might be enough to get my mind out of food..." He says, planting his hands against the dry, rough rocks and resuming their climb.

The elf, however, was taking a different approach. Instead of carefully walking along the narrow ledges and getting holds wherever possible, he was now dexterously making small hops from one handhold to the other, climbing almost like a monkey. Dalrus simply watched him cover the distance that previously had taken them ten long mind-numbing minutes in just a few seconds. "Well, if that's how you want it..." Dalrus whispered to himself, before focusing on a spot that Thano had just climbed over. Stepping through the shadows, Dalrus appeared a few centimeters over the spot. Kicking down on the rock, he launched himself upwards and began to climb much in the same manner his elven senior was, his shadow-coated palms finding better adherence now that they were only lingering on the same spot for the briefest of moments. It was an interesting experience for him. Dalrus had only ever really practiced his climbing on the Wall of Greymane back home, where most of the stones were smooth slabs, save for a few crevices among them. He found that the uneven wall before him offered a much easier challenge, especially because rather than being perfectly vertical, it actually had plenty of leverage for his hands and feet. Now adrenaline was pumping into his body, and he felt his second wind kick in, giving him an extra burst of speed and stamina. He did not go too quickly, however. Thano was the one leading the way, after all. It would hardly do him much good to run past the elf without any notion of where his objective was rather than 'up'.

For the next couple of hours, the two rogues continued with their somewhat reckless climb. Dalrus' palms were already starting to feel numb as he slapped them time and time again against the hard rocks, even with that thin layer of shadow energy covering them. He had never utilized it for that long before, but as he shut his brain's most conscious functions off and focused solely on his instinct and reflexes to climb, he found it was much easier to continue to channel the power of the Void. It flowed through his body like wind entering his lungs, filling him with energy and pouring out through his palms and feet, helping him remain attached to the mountain before him. Again and again, he would reach up, grab a ledge, push down, repeat. His mind wandered off to his home, and he wondered how his parents and teacher were handling the fact he had left with his brother. He imagined his father would be angry at first, but eventually would be proud that he was out there doing his part... Just pissed off at the fact he hadn't announced his intentions to leave. His mother would most likely be besides herself with worry. That made him feel a little knot in his heart. It pained him to know he would be bringing her more worry and distress... He hoped she would forgive him. His uncle, on the other hand... Dalrus swallowed dryly as he pondered what Master Silvius would have done had he been in condition to stop him. Probably pull out some new bottle of poison saved especially for that kind of situation... After tracking him down across the ocean and into a new continent.

Dalrus was so lost in his thoughts that when he suddenly felt a hand grab the back of his collar and pull him into a small cave on the rock side, he almost instinctively stabbed Thano on the ribs. Instead, he simply fell on his back onto the dusty, shrouded cavern floor. "Oh... Are we there already?" He said, staring up at the ceiling, then lifting his head to peer at Thano. "Almost!" The elf replied, slapping his hands together to wipe off the excessive dust. "The nests are just a little up ahead, perched on top of a bunch of stalactites!"

Dalrus frowned, then blinked a couple of times. "Don't you mean stalagmites?"

He saw the elf freeze for a moment and sweat run down his temple. There was a long, awkward silence.

"So, I think now is the time to pull out those bombs and make sure everything is in proper order before we go on!" He suddenly said, choosing to ignore Dalrus' comment. Sitting down cross-legged, he put down his bag and began pulling out the explosives, which Dalrus proceeded to imitate. They had been carrying two bombs each, and Dalrus now was holding one in each of his hands.

The spiky metallic balls were each about the size of his head. On the small panel, he could make out four zeroes and three buttons of different colors underneath. "So, uh... How do we set these up?" He asked, looking up at Thano.

The elf simply raised a brow at him. "Did you forget the explanation already?"

Leaning his head to the side, Dalrus shrugged. "Eh... If I am being honest, I wasn't entirely aware of my surroundings that moment we were given the manual on how to operate these."

Thano let out a chuckle. "I told you to get plenty of rest the night before, didn't I? Ah, well. It's not like you're expected to handle these yourself anyway. Just give them all to me, I'll set the timers now. Your job is only to help me carry and put these in position..."

For the following minutes, Dalrus simply waited as Thano pressed the same buttons tons of times, loud 'bleeps' echoing in the small cavern they were sitting in. Looking at the looming darkness behind them, Dalrus realized it wasn't in fact a cavern... More like a tunnel leading deep into the mountain. Looking around with more attention, he noticed what appeared to be claw and bite marks here and there. The tunnel was, in fact, excavated. By whom or what, he couldn't hazard a guess. What he did guess was that there were probably more tunnels like that along the mountain, leading deeper inside and to what was most likely a safe spot for the harpies to build their nests.

"Big, ugly women with legs and wings like birds!" Thano had told him the previous night after Dalrus had inquired what the bloody hell a harpy was. "They can think and speak like us, but that doesn't really make them intelligent or diplomatic. Even gnolls can speak, after all. Their race is entirely female, and are quite vicious. They have been raiding our supply stocks and attacking sentries every now and then. So we are going to kindly ask them to leave. And after they say no, we are going to ask them again a little less kindly."

As he tapped his chin and waited, Dalrus began to grow more and more curious about the dark path ahead of them. The tunnel really was pitch black. Peering deeper into it, he could almost see it... The swirling forms of the deep Void...

'This is the fate that awaits you... Nothing but sheer, utter darkness... But this shadow pales in comparison for what is to come...'

'Oh, NOW you decide to show up. But when I was bored out of my skull climbing a bleeding mountain, you're suddenly having a tea break!'

'You waste your time on mundane tasks. Darkness will swallow you and all you know before you realize it is already too late...'

'No, not having any of this. If you can't be there when I need you, I'm afraid this relationship is not going to work. I think we should see other people.'

"Whew! I think I'm done." Thano's voice echoed from behind him. Snapping his neck as he looked around, Dalrus let out a soft painful moan as he got up from his cross-legged position and stood up, winding his arms to get rid of the pain and fatigue. "Crikey, about time! So, what's the next step?"

The bombs were neatly arranged on the floor in front of them in a half circle. They were now all showing on their surface the digits: 03:00. "Well, from what I understand... Now that they are armed, all we need to do is carry them to the place we want them to go off, press this big red button in the middle, then get out of there as fast as possible before we turn into red goop splattered against the mountain side! Pretty easy, eh?" And with that, the elf pulled a white cloth sack from his back and carefully placed two bombs inside. "Here, you carry this. I'll take the other two. Now, be silent, and follow me." Holding the other two bombs against his breast with his left arm, the elf began to make his way into the dark cave, followed closely by Dalrus, who held his bomb bag over his shoulder and back.

Darkness completely covered them both. Utter, pitch-blackness. Dalrus could barely make out the form of the senior rogue in front of him, but that was mostly due to his instincts and a bit of echolocation rather than sight. After about a minute of carefully stalking straight forward, he began to hear it. Screams, chirps, the flapping of wings... It was very faint, but the sound carried well in the tunnel they were in. He could tell the screams were vaguely feminine, but sounded more like salty old crones fighting over whose grandson was the most precious. Finally, they saw a faint light straight ahead. Crouching low, the two rogues continued to walk forward, until they reached the edge of their tunnel and saw what was in front of them.

It was a very large cave in the middle of the mountain. Looking along the walls, Dalrus could see several small tunnels such as that he and Thano had just taken. On the rocky floor about twenty meters below, enormous rock spires were jutting out upwards. Directly on the other side of the cave was a huge opening that showed the clear blue skies outside, from which harpies flew back and forth and the sunlight shone in, casting its light over that cave on the mountainside and giving them plenty of vision of everything there. "Alright, there's our target." Thano whispered, pointing at the base of the stalagmites. "We blow up the big ones in strategic spots, and everything will come down with them." He pointed towards some of the stone spires that looked thicker and taller than most. "We need to place the explosives on a certain spot to make them fall over the others and turn this place into a landslide site. All the nests will be destroyed, and the harpies won't be able to use this place anymore. Any questions?"

"Yeah... Where exactly should I place the bombs?" Dalrus narrowed his eyes, watching the bird women above. Now that he could get a good look at them, he realized just how horrendous they were. Their faces were long with huge curved noses, their hair pulled back in braids or ponytails behind their heads. Their feathers were mostly a dusty brown, with tribal marks and tattoos over the human parts of their bodies. Their breasts were covered by straps of leather crudely cut and torn out of the native creatures around the mountain. Their huge bird legs hung low under their bodies, ending in black razor-sharp curved talons. Some were resting on their nests, others were flying in and out of the cave like flies. As he watched, one holding a bloody carcass of an animal Dalrus couldn't identify flew in and landed on a stone slab to the side, where she began using her talons to slice its flesh open. It was then that suddenly a second harpy dived in and tackled her, screaming on top of her lungs as they both rolled on the floor, claws and feathers flying everywhere. "MINE! GIVE IT TO ME! MINE!" She was screaming, as the attacked harpy shouted back: "NO! I TAKE! IT'S MINE! NOT YOURS! RAAAAARGH!"

A shiver ran down his spine as the two harpies continued to fight over the food, their high-pitched screams echoing in the large cavern. Thano then tapped on his shoulder and lifted his hand, all his fingers save one curled into a fist so he could point the precise spots Dalrus should lay the bombs. "There... And there. See? They are not too bright, so it shouldn't be difficult getting there unseen. Just keep your head low, and try not to make any noise. After you're done, meet me back here."

Nodding, Dalrus made sure the bomb bag was well strapped to his back and began to walk closer to the edge of their little tunnel. None of the harpies were even looking down, they were all either staring at the two fighters or attending to their own nests. "Lucky us, we already got a distraction..." He whispered as he leapt off their spot. Arms and legs spreading to help control his fall, he veered to the side and shadowstepped just before he hit the floor, landing on his hands and knees so he wouldn't transfer any shock to the bombs. Taking a deep breath and looking over his shoulder, he began to stalk amidst the thick, rocky foundations of the stalagmites. Still he could hear the loud screams of the two harpies fighting, their wing flaps and shrieks echoing in the cavern. 'Huh. Guess the hard part was making it up here.' He thought to himself. Barely took him a couple minutes to get to the first spot. By then, a third harpy had attempted to get away with the meat the first one had gathered and the second was attempting to fight over. Upon seeing the new intruder, the first two suddenly joined forces to brutally kill her, then eat the meat together. He now understood why those things were unable to be diplomatic with. They might look human and even speak like one, but deep down they were controlled by nothing but their animal instincts.

"Alright, so, I put this here, and then..." He was muttering to himself, setting the bomb as Thano had instructed him. "I press this one..." He pushed his finger against the big red button right underneath the time counter. It flashed once, then displayed a message on the panel: "Three out of four bombs allocated. Activate the final one to start the counter."

'Oh. Well, that's handy.' He thought, getting up and making his way towards the final stalagmite. 'Three out of four... Guess long ears already finished on his side. Only one left now!' As he darted and weaved his way through the rock bases, he heard a much louder scream that made his ears ring. Covering them with his palms, he winced and looked up. Descending from outside was a harpy far larger than all the others. This one was at least twice as big, her feathers white as snow almost completely covered in dirty brown dust. She landed on the stone slab where the two other harpies were still feasting, and let out yet another ear-splitting scream. Wisely, the two flew away immediately, leaving the larger one to enjoy the meat herself. Dalrus assumed she was some sort of matriarch, or an alpha of that group.

The arrival of the alpha harpy provided him with further cover so he could reach the last bomb spot, as the other harpies appeared to be avoiding her. 'Piece of cake!' Dalrus thought to himself as he set the final bomb down and pressed the button to trigger it. He was already up on his feet and turning his back to it when, from that tiny metallic spike-covered sphere, came a feminine shout to put even the alpha harpy's to shame:

"All bombs are now set! Explosion to go off in three minutes. Have a nice day!"

As the shrieking overhead began, along with the sound of dozens of wings flapping in unison and converging on the source of that noise, the only thing in Dalrus' mind was: 'Oh... Bugger.'