Chapter 19: Shoe Leather and Waterfalls
Milya helped Violet cut the hem of her dress and chemise to keep them from dragging on the floor and being a tripping hazard.
"I'm not an expert on magic," the half-elf told her, "but maybe you should consider not using your magic until you get some answers."
"First, you tell me to rely on my magic, now you tell me not to use it at all," Violet huffed. "Which is it, Milya? You can't have it both ways."
"You're right," she conceded. "This didn't hurt you or anyone else, but what if that's not the case next time?"
"But we don't even know if I used my magic at all," Violet protested. "It could just be a coincidence."
"What? You wished that gnoll would trip and it did. Then you shrunk about ten inches? That doesn't scream magic at you?" Milya shook her head as she stood. "You're deluding yourself if that's what you truly believe."
"Again, you're right," Violet sighed. "But if I can't attack or defend myself with weapons and I can't use my magic, I'm useless and should go back to Highmoon and leave this to you. Is that what you want?"
"No," Jael broke into their conversation, "that's not a good idea. There's no way to know what you might run into before you get back to farmhouse or on your way back to the city. You need to stay with us."
"He's right, Miss," Sergeant Winthrop added, "it's too dangerous for you to be alone down here and we can't spare anyone to escort you back. And we might have need for your magic at some point."
Violet looked up at the faces around her. "Alright, I'll stay with you, but I won't use my magic unless I have to." She looked at Milya, "is that good enough for you?"
"It will have to be," Milya answered.
"Good," Winthrop pronounced somewhat impatiently. "Can we proceed?"
"Not so fast," Jael faced the sergeant. "That was a good-sized group, and we haven't gone that far."
"We took care of them quite handily. Even without the little miss's spell." He looked over at Violet, "no offense."
She shrugged, "none taken."
"Even without the spell," he continued, "we would have made short work of them. I see no reason to expect we won't be able to do that with any other foul creatures we might run across."
"You're pretty sure of yourself," Milya observed. "Vorn had to take one of our healing potions and he's the most capable of us." She nodded towards Jael, "and he's not looking too steady on his feet either."
"I'll be fine," Jael dismissed her concern.
"And Violet's magic is unpredictable," she continued. "I think we're taking a significant risk in continuing."
"I never imagined that a Harper would be afraid of a single drow and a few gnolls," Winthrop's voice dripped with scorn. "If you want to go back, go. My men and I will push on without you."
Jael caught Milya before she could lunge at the guardsman, "easy." Turing to Winthrop, he said, "nobody said anything about turning back. We all know how important this is. All she is saying is that we need to proceed with caution."
Milya pushed Jael away, "I can speak for myself." She glared at Winthrop, "And that's exactly what I'm saying. Your attitude is too cavalier and is going to get someone killed if you don't watch out."
Winthrop looked as if he wanted to say more, but Vorn chose that moment voice his opinion, "are we going to just sit here bickering or are we going to keep going? If it's the first, I'm a mite hungry and could use some lunch."
The other members of their party looked at one another.
"I didn't bring anything to eat," Milya said first.
"Nor did I," Jael added. "We didn't think we would be gone so long."
"Then it's a good thing we're here," Winthrop said with satisfaction. "We never venture out without three days of field rations on us."
"This area is a little exposed for a picnic lunch," Milya looked around. "Maybe we should find a better place first?"
The rest agreed and decided on the branch that led to the right. They headed off in the same formation as before with Violet tucked in the middle of the fighters. As they made their way through the tunnel, she discovered a disadvantage to her being shorter; she practically had to run to keep up with the pace they set. It was a good thing she and Milya cut her skirt a few inches higher than floor length. At least she didn't have to worry about tripping on it.
Before long, they reached another fork in the tunnel, one branch leading due north and the other in a northeasterly direction.
"These worthless goblin sodders stink at tunnel building," Vorn muttered. "Seems like they don't know what direction they want to go."
"More likely, they were forced to change direction and dig additional tunnels," Jael suggested.
"That's all well and good," Winthrop put in, "but it doesn't help us figure out which way to go from here."
Vorn examined the walls and floors of the tunnels closely, "it looks like this one was dug the most recently." He indicated the one to the northeast.
"Then, let's go up this one," Milya pointed to the north branch.
Violet heartedly agreed, she was slightly winded from keeping up with the taller members of the group.
Several yards up the tunnel, a cavern opened up on the right, offering them an area to spread out and rest. Scattered about it were empty crates and discarded tools. Old footprints crisscrossed the floor, but after a thorough search, Milya pronounced that the cavern hadn't been used for weeks.
They spread out as much as they could while staying within the circle of light from Jael's staff and the torch that private Lief carried, and the three guardsmen broke out their rations to share with the others. It wasn't much, just some dense, dark bread that was like eating a hardened clay brick and tough jerky.
Seeing Violet's face at her first bite of the bread, corporal Reed chuckled, "it's trail bread. Tastes like shit, but it's highly nutritious. Just a quarter of a bar can sustain a grown man for half a day."
Reed's bright orange hair and laughing blue eyes made him stand out next to the other two city guards with their brown hair and eyes and Violet found herself smiling at him.
"Are you sure it's that or the fact that it's so bad, you just don't want to eat anymore until you absolutely have to?"
He grinned back at her, "it's probably a combination of both. Wait 'til you taste the jerky. You might not think the bread is so bad then."
It was true. The jerky was like chewing shoe leather. After half a stick, her jaw was aching. She tucked the rest of the bread along with the jerky into her dress pocket to eat later and prayed to the goddess that they would be out of the tunnels before she had to finish them.
Nearby, Jael and Winthrop drew a crude map on the floor of the tunnels they had explored so far and discussed how far they should go before collapsing the ceiling. Violet attempted to pay attention, but now that the rush from the battle had faded and she had food in her stomach, she found that she couldn't keep her eyes open.
"Go on," Reed urged her. When she looked at him questioningly, he leaned towards her and in a low voice said, "we learn quickly in the guard to take advantage of any opportunity to nap. You'd be amazed how much better you'll feel with just a few minutes of shut eye. Go ahead, I'll wake you up before we leave."
"Thanks," she whispered back before stretching out on the floor and resting her head on her arm. She didn't even remember closing her eyes.
A gentle shake of her shoulder woke her up. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and looked inquiringly at Reed still sitting next to her.
"How long was I out?"
"Just a few minutes. How do you feel?"
Getting to her feet and stretching to rid herself of any kinks, she said, "not bad at all. You're right, that little nap helped."
Reed pressed his hand to his chest and made a mock bow, "I would never lie to a beautiful lady."
Violet blushed at his blatant flirting and was relieved when they were interrupted by Winthrop.
"Okay, listen up," he strode to the middle of the group. "Jael and I have been discussing our options. It's clear that we are not prepared for a long excursion. However far we travel before destroying the tunnel, we will have to backtrack that same distance. That's not taking into count meeting any more patrols. Jael and I agree that we should follow that northern trail for just another hour and do what we need to do then get out of these tunnels and back to the city."
Vorn and Milya nodded in agreement. Violet agreed also. The longer they were in these tunnels the more likely she was to be forced to use her magic.
"Good," Winthop said with satisfaction. "Let's get our stuff gathered up and get going. Corporal Reed?"
The red-headed guard snapped to attention, "yes, sergeant?"
"Since you're having such a good time charming Miss Violet, you're responsible for her safety."
Reed flushed a bright red, "but sergeant…,"
"No argument," Winthrop snapped. "Private Lief, you take the lead with Harper Vorn."
The other guardsman flashed a grin at the embarrassed corporal and took his place at the opening of the cavern.
"Move out," Winthrop ordered.
They followed the tunnel back to the fork then proceeded northeast, nobody talking. This time they weren't going to let any patrol sneak up on them like the last one. Though Reed had dropped back to walk beside Violet, he refused to look at her as they walked in the dim light.
The light shining from Jael's staff had died out before they reached the fork and after a brief, hushed discussion, they had decided to use just a single torch. The weaker light of the torch would be harder to see from a distance than the bright, white light from the spell the priest had cast. Jael carried it at the rear of their formation, so it wouldn't affect their vision as much. Violet could barely see where she was going between the flickering light and the shadows cast by everyone. Twice she tripped and would have fallen if Reed had not caught her.
"Thank you," she whispered the second time.
"Quit looking ahead and just pay attention to where you're going," he whispered back. "I'll let you know if there's anything to see up ahead."
Nodding her understanding, she focused on the ground between her and Winthrop, who walked ahead of her several feet.
"Which way now?"
Violet could barely hear Winthrop's exasperated question even though she stood right behind him.
After traveling for about an hour, they had begun to smell moisture in the air of the tunnel. A little further, the sound of water began to echo off the walls around them. Soon the floor started glistening with dampness. As they continued, the noise of the water rose to a roar that drowned out every other sound. Reaching the source of the sound, the group stopped and looked around questioningly.
The tunnel forked yet again with the left branch going north and the other continuing to the northeast. The source of the roar was an underground river that flowed in a channel beside the northeast tunnel and poured over a precipice just before the fork. Peering over the edge of the hole in the floor that was as wide as a Winthrop was tall, the water disappeared into the impenetrable darkness below. The mist that the waterfall threw into the air coated the tunnel floor, making footing treacherous, quickly formed a slick film on everything the group carried, and threatened to put out the torch.
Vorn shouted something she couldn't make out, but he pointed to the northern branch of the tunnel, so Violet assumed he wanted to go that way. Winthrop nodded sharply and Vorn led them away from the river.
The tunnel at this point was wide enough for four to walk side by side and not bump into one another, but an outcropping of bedrock too stubborn to give way pinched the passage to just half that. Following Winthrop around it, Violet was so intent upon the floor and not slipping that she didn't realized he had stopped until Reed grabbed her to keep her from running into him.
Looking up, she started at the sight of yet another set of monsters in the tunnel ahead of them, looking just as surprised as she felt.
She could make out three creatures that reminded her of large goblins, except they were a dark orange in color. They also were outfitted in better armor than any of the creatures they had encountered so far in the tunnels, wearing chain mail like Vorn and Milya and carrying large, heavy swords that were far from rusty. Behind them was a creature from myth, with the body of a lion, leathery wings that filled the tunnel around it, and a spiked tail that whipped back and forth violently like that of an angry feline. Violet's stunned brain refused to put a name to it, but she knew enough to want to run in the opposite direction.
The first monster lunged forward and swung its sword at Vorn, who dodged it and counterattacked with his battle axe. Behind her, she could hear Jael chanting a spell that caught the winged monstrosities notice. With a flick of its tail, it sent a barb the length of her forearm straight at him, but the second humanoid monster accidently deflected it fending off an attack by Leif. Then Violet was pushed aside by Milya as she raced to the front of the group to aid her fellows.
Deciding she was too close; Reed grabbed Violet, pulling her back from the fighting and out of harm's way. He led her back to the fork and around the corner of the branch with the river. Here, the light from Jael's torch barely reached them and the roar of the waterfall behind them drowned out the sounds of battle.
Peering around the corner, they tried to catch a glimpse as their friends fought the outnumbered enemy, but the bedrock blocked most of the action. The only person they could clearly see was Jael, so when he was hit three times by the wicked spikes from the monster attacking him and fell to the ground, Violet turned to Reed.
"You need to go help them!" she shouted to be heard over the water.
"No, I was ordered to stay and protect you."
"I'm not in danger," she insisted pointing at Jael. "They are!"
"I'm not disobeying a direct order," he shook his head violently.
Violet couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here was a professional soldier refusing to go help his comrades, using her as an excuse.
"I didn't think you were a coward," she spat.
Reed turned an ugly shade of red, making her take a step back quickly in alarm. Her foot slipped on a wet rock and she stumbled backwards several steps trying to catch her balance, her arms flailing. Reed, seeing the danger, lunged forward and reached for her, but it was too late. Instead of finding the rough floor of the tunnel, her foot met the open air and she tumbled backwards into darkness.