Chapter Text
Early morning set over the land of Afiovion. The two suns, Targarius and Una, cast soft shadows through the forest, grasslands, and buildings surrounding the Capitol. The air, already warming, filled steadily with the smells and sounds of vendors opening their carts and shops. The smell of simmering meats, spices, and incense swirled through the alleys. Clothes, weapons, and armor of all shapes and sizes lined windows and covered mannequins which stood like an inanimate army. Traders and travelers prepared to sell their wares as nomads and locals alike began wandering the cobblestone streets.
The warm and fragrant air extended for miles around the Capitol, yet even such pungent fragrances could not penetrate the ground and deep caverns beneath the Capitol. Beyond the gates of The Underneath laid a maze of tunnels, dank and cold. Soldiers and workers carved many of the tunnels for space and to access valuable deposits beneath the Capitol. Other tunnels were carved by gigantic beasts who inhabited the land and delved deep under ground to hide from the creatures above. The tunnels’ original creators were of no consequence and of little relevance as the slow, dripping water pattered against the stone floors.
The sound of dripping water echoed against the stone floors gathering in small puddles in the cracks and crevasses. These subtle sounds, over time, slowly woke the figures cast in darkness. Each of the eight figures, as they woke, came to the realization they were trapped, locked in iron-bar cages.
“Hello?” called a feminine voice from the darkness. There were sounds of shuffling from other cells. “Hello? Anyone else there?” The voice shook slightly as though it were spoken through clenching teeth, but was projected well within the cavernous cell block.
“Who’s there?” called another voice, masculine but higher pitched than the female voice.
“I’m Bo. Who are you?” replied the first feminine voice.
“I am Areal, mender of kingdoms and seer of the future,” proclaimed the male voice, sounding pompous and self-important. Now a new voice emerged from the darkness.
A low, feminine voice with a Russian accent muttered, “If you are a seer of the future, then how did you get captured?” The question was more for herself than for the others and, before Areal could respond, other voices called out to one another.
“Is everyone alright?” called a sweet, high-pitched masculine voice. “I’m Milo by the way. Is everyone okay?”
“Gar is good,” responded a deep, growling voice from one of the other cells.
“What the heck happened? And how did we get down here?” another flustered feminine voice asked. Clattering metal bars tugged against the locks.
“First, who are you. Next, what’s the last thing you remember?” asked Milo. There were more clangs as hands tugged at the bars.
“Well, I remember we were in the woods by the river and then we smelled this disgusting odor before passing out. And I’m Zatryme,” replied Zatryme.
“I wasn’t too far from here, a little further south actually, but I don’t remember getting ambushed. I’m Aster,” said Aster from the darkness.
“Great!” said Milo. “I had a similar experience. I was on my way to my hometown from the northern roads when I was ambushed in the woods just off of the trail.”
“Same as Zatryme,” called the Russian accented female. “Oh, I’m Panora.”
“What really matters is how we’re going to get out of here,” spoke up yet another female voice.
“True, true. Who is this?” asked Milo.
“Lily, but I can’t see how that matters. Does anyone have a lock-pick or thin wire?” asked Lily. There were sounds of shuffling feet as each person carefully explored their confined chambers. All of them still possessed their equipment and gear, much to their surprise and, within minutes, several torches from their packs were set ablaze. There were a dozen cells within the chamber and a single, dark-oak door at the entrance. Each person could now see the other.
Lily wore dark clothing consisting of cloth and thin leathers, blending well with the darkness. Her white hair and pale skin were haunting and gaunt in the shadows. Her light pupils reflected little torch light. Gar, in the cell beside her, was a half-orc. Many of his features reflected his human side such as his eyes and the shape of his skull. His body, on the other hand, was barely containable by the cell where he was placed. His tusks were finely sharpened, skin thick and grey like the stone surrounding them. He wore little armor, but his looming presence served him well.
Panora, a halfling, had dark blonde hair pulled into a tight bun with a few wisps of hair hanging by her pointed ears. Her eyes were dark and her features sharp. For a halfling, she was unusually tall, but still was a head shorter than the next shortest member, Lily. She too wore simple, dark leathers, but she smelled of herbs. Bo appeared elvan, though her ears and features were not as refined as a true-blooded elf. She was broad and muscular and carried a heavy sword and armor which was un-crested.
Aster appeared human, her dark hair and dark eyes flickering in the torchlight. She wore cloth, monk-like robes of muted reds, blues, and yellows. Areal, an elf, wore simple cloth robes which were a royal blue. Tassels hung around his neck and he clutched several books under his arms as he leaned against the bars. His skin was light and comparatively youthful to elves centuries older than him. Zatryme, also an elf, also appeared youthful. Her skin was a deep emerald green and her eyes were a pale yellow. Antlers rested gently on the top of her head, but there was too little light to determine if they were grown or placed there. Her long, green hair cascaded over her shoulders down along her cloth and leather armor.
“Great,” chirped Milo looking around at the seven others. Milo appeared to be a unique mixture resulting in a short, humanoid fox. His ears were sharp and perked and his nose, which did not extend as far as a fox’s nose, quickly breathed the air gleaning all the information he could. A small pair of spectacles rested on his nose, slightly gold and gleaming brightly in the torchlight. He held two swords at his side and wore simple leathers. “Now, how are we going to get out of here?” Lily was already picking the lock to her cell. With a few loud, grinding clicks, she managed to free herself. She paused for a moment in silent debate of whether or not to free the others, but the debate ended as she approached Gar’s cell and began picking the lock. With a little help from Gar lifting the bars into a better position, Lily picked the lock. She moved to the next cage where Panora was when the group heard shuffling feet outside of the wooden door.
A foul stench began creeping beneath the dark-oak door. With lightening speed, Lily darted and leaned against the base beside the door on one side while Gar, to everyone’s astonishment, seemed to blend against the stone opposite of Lily. Everyone held their breath as a tall, lanky creature with claws and a lantern entered. Its shoulders were broad, its facial features reminiscent of a bullfrog. Its armored skin, a sickly pale grey, oozed with a thin, glossy mucus. Bony protrusions emerged from its elbows, spine, and whipping tail. It swung the lantern near the cages, taking no notice of the two figures by the door. Its voice, burbling and guttural, made a few odd croaks as it snarled at the cages.
Lily, in that moment, could now see a ring of keys along the creature’s belt. Her eyes darted from the keys to the still captured individuals in the cages. The glint in Lily’s eye caught Milo’s attention and, without hesitation, Milo rushed the bars and began shouting at the creature.
“Hey! Come over here ugly! Yeah, that’s right! Come at me!” Milo’s shouts gained the creature’s attention. It snarled and approached the bars, reaching through and jabbing Milo in the nose; yet Milo was not deterred. Lily inched forward, careful not to enter the creature’s peripheral vision, and reached for the keys. Even with Milo’s distraction, the creature was still able to feel the tug against its belt as Lily fumbled pulling the keys from it. Before the creature could let out a shriek, Gar let out a tremendous roar and leapt forward. The creature did not stand a chance as Gar’s axe slashed into its flesh. Lily also leapt into action, pulling a small dagger from her boot and jabbing it into the creature’s thigh. Within seconds, the creature fell lifeless onto the ground. Unsure if there were others, Lily cut the ring of keys free and tossed them to Panora. Lily began picking the remaining locks while Panora used the keys and Gar stood guard.
“Are you alright?” asked Aster as she approached Milo who was mopping up his bloody nose with a handkerchief.
“Yes, quite alright. As a Mouseketeer, I fear none and pursue the best right thing to do; though it didn’t have to hit quite so hard,” replied Milo. He placed his spectacles back onto his face and surveyed the rest of the group. “Well, I may not remember the way in, but do any of you?”
“No,” replied Panora as she pulled a pipe from a small side pouch. She uncurled her fingers in the air as though she were releasing a butterfly and a small burst of green laced around her fingertips. A small, thin, four-pronged leaf sprouted in her hand. She pinched and rolled the leaf into a ball, placed it in her pipe and, using her fingers, lit the pipe with a small flame. A light, misty smoke puffed from the end of the pipe and from the corners of Panora’s lips.
“Gar does not remember,” said Gar as he leaned just outside of the door and glanced about the halls. “But we need to go.” The group collectively nodded and grabbed their belongings before peering into the hallway.
Their torches barely illuminated the cavernous hallway which extended in two directions. The tunneled hallway itself was just over two meters tall and barely two meters wide. From the size of the creature Gar and Lily had slain, it was clear the creature did not carve the tunnels and instead was using them. The group spread out the best they could with their torches. After quickly darting down both sides of the hallway, the group discovered five passageways leading to more tunnels. No one ventured into these hallways and instead came back together.
“Find the way out?” asked Aster.
“No, just more tunnels,” replied Lily.
“What the heck! How are we supposed to get out of here then? I think we need to split up,” piped up Zatryme. The group exchanged unsure glances.
“Seems like the only way to cover the most ground. My only concern is if we run into trouble,” said Lily, pulling her hood further over her head.
“We don’t have much of a choice. If we hit any dead ends, we come back here,” said Bo firmly. “If we find the way out, we send someone back for the others.” Still uncertain but finding no alternative among the strangers, the party split into two groups. The first group ventured to the left while the second group set off to the right. Each of them followed the tunnels’ paths through its twists and turns. The tunnels themselves were narrower than the hallway. The tunnels were just under two meters tall and just over a meter wide. Gar was forced to crouch as his group navigated the tunnels. They tested for traps along the way by throwing small stones ahead of them and around corners, listening intently for the sounds of snarls and growls. They were unsure of how long they traversed the tunnels but, some time later, their tunnels converged and they were reunited.
“Well, this is fortunate,” said Milo with a smile. His whiskers fluttered with excitement as he spotted the others from the darkness. The group turned now to the door in front of them. It was made of a thick, light wood and was reinforced with metal beams. There was some kind of lantern or torch light emanating from the gaps lining the door. They tried the knob first. Locked. It took only one strong kick from Gar for the lock to be rendered useless. As the group burst through the door, unbeknownst to them, they emerged into another small chamber with iron bars extending from the ceiling to the ground. The chamber was four meters tall and five meters wide, they maybe had seven meters between them and the bars. Also, to their astonishment, there were five armed guards on the other side of the bars. Each of the guards wore studded leather breastplates and dark leather bracers. The moment they burst through, the guards turned their surprised attention on the eight figures emerging from the darkness. The sound of swords and daggers being yanked from their sheathes.
“Who are you? And how did you get down here? Speak up!” demanded one of the guards, his eyes fixed and observant. Before Milo could speak up, Bo stepped forward, eyes crazed and wild, and she shouted in a great, thunderous voice.
“We’ve got to get out of here! There’s a volcano and it’s going to explode! The lava is coming up the tunnels now!” Something in her eyes and something about the panic in her voice sent a jolt of energy through the guards. “Don’t you feel the trembling?” Four of the guards, youthful in face, looked nervously at one another before bolting out of the door believing there was indeed volcanic tremors beneath their feet. The other shouted at them in sheer frustration and charged after them. The group stared, stunned at the audacious lie Bo had just told, but also remained silently impressed by her power of persuasion.
“Well, that certainly solves the problem of getting rid of the guards,” said Aster. “But how are we going to get out?” She walked up to the bars and tugged. Unlike the bars of their individual cells in the maze of tunnels left behind them, there were no additional horizontal bars keeping them from squeezing through them. In fact, the bars were much wider and the group realized they would need to shimmy through the bars to get out of their predicament. At the very least, a few of them could fit through and acquire keys to free the rest of their party. All together, Panora, Aster, Lily, Milo, and, much to everyone’s surprise, Gar were able to push through the bars. There was a set of keys under a nearby shelf and soon they opened the gate.
The company had barely managed to get out when they heard the rapid approach of several dozen soldiers. Before they knew it, they were surrounded and blocked in with another set of guards, different than the ones who had scurried away in fear of the mythical volcano. An elvan man wearing breastplate armor and brandishing a rapier stepped forward. His eyes, sharp and focused, were a pale blue-grey like storm clouds over the sea. The company deduced quickly he must be the one in charge.
“I am Haru Yokudekimashita, Captain of the Guard of The Underneath,” he stated firmly. He pointed the tip of his rapier at the group. “Identify yourself and your business.” Bo, foolheartedly, stepped forward, eyes crazed and wild, and shouted to the Captain’s men.
“You have to run! There’s a volcano about to erupt! We need to get out of here!” Bo’s words echoed against the walls of the tunnels, reverberating and giving her voice the added dimension of power. Unfortunately for her, the deceit of a volcano preparing to erupt did not disrupt the Captain’s men nor even make Haru, Captain of the Guard, flinch. He steeled his gaze as his eyes darted between the figures and took note of their wares.
“Do not be absurd,” said Haru authoritatively. “There is no volcano in this part of the region and, at any rate, there are many other precursor events before a volcano erupts. I will not ask you again. Who are you and what is your business?” The soldiers grasped their shields and swords firmly, preparing for any event the mysterious company might throw at them. This time, Milo stepped forward. He adjusted his glasses before clearing his throat and looking to the Captain.
“Captain Yokudekimashita, my name is Milo, Mouseketeer of Anderlily. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” said Milo with a courteous bow. “I apologize for the initial startle, but you have found our company at an inopportune time. You see, we are not quite sure how we came to be in this place. I dare say we are not an official company and are linked only by the bond of spontaneity.” Haru’s eyes narrowed, but he allowed Milo rise and continue.
“You see, we woke up not too long ago in cages within the maze of caves behind us. We have not met previously and, based on our accounts, we were abducted from somewhere nearby and taken there. There were these tall, toad-like creatures which smelled utterly foul which we believe were the culprits. We just managed to find our way out when stumbled upon your men,” said Milo. Haru eyed the group suspiciously, but lowered his rapier to a less offensive position.
“Then why lie about this preposterous volcano?” he asked, directing his attention at Bo, who shied away bashfully.
“I was just trying to keep the guards distracted and not so focused on us,” Bo said. Haru looked pensive for several long moments before he gestured for his men to stand-down.
“Very well. Come with me,” said Haru. “Some of the information you possess may prove useful.”