Cavern of The Chaos Lord: The Reckoning pt. II

 Upon entry to the next room, as Dimitria's lantern lit the inside with it's bright flame, The Harbingers, along with their pilfered goods detected movement. As they looked, Drago, Thorin and Tauriel drew their weapons, ready for anything while Dimitria readied herself. She had one sleep spell left. She knew with the utterance of the word "Solambunarum" it was possible to lull whatever the threat was to sleep, were it a threat at all. 

"Ahhhhh," a deep, booming voice said, "Adventurers...The ones that dispatched Throk in his own lair inside this very cavern." The voice was menacing and low. Not the warm, welcoming voice from the room with the small dragon in it before. This one was much more on edge. 

"Now you're in my lair," it said, "and I will not be so easily discarded."

"Somnambularum!" Dimitria shouted as she raised her staff. 

The scaly red dragon began to laugh as he raised himself up onto his hind legs and spread his small wings. His gold eyes flaring as he came back down onto all fours  and began to creep forward. His mouth full of sharp teeth opened and his eyes flared for a mere moment as suddenly. He closed his mouth and shook his head. 

The Harbingers noticed that the dragon staggered as though he'd had too much to drink. He wavered and then began to fall over onto his side.

"Get Back!" Drago yelled out as Dimitria, Tauriel and then Thorin backed out of the door and into the hallway through which they just passed. There was a loud and terrible crash as the small, red dragon, fell over onto it's side and began snoring. Everyone looked back at Dimitria. 

"One second's hesitation," said Tauriel as she sheathed her sword, "and we would be a lot worse off. Good work."

"Let's search the room," said Drago as he motioned for them to enter. "That took a bit longer than expected to take effect," he observed as he looked at the sleeping dragon, "We have no time to waste. If that awakened the hobgoblins, we might find ourselves closed off."

"Agreed," said Thorin, sniffing the air and following his nose. 

"Find a scent, Thorin?" Tauriel asked.

"Something," he said sniffing the air again, "but it doesn't smell quite right. Drago, help me with this thing's tail." 

Drago sheathed his own weapon and moved to help Thorin. Both used their strength to move the dragon's tail before Thorin glanced at something and then his face had relaxed into a look of resignation.

"I knew it," he said, "The damnable thing thought he was sitting on a small scraping of ore."

"What is it?" Drago said as he moved in closer to inspect it, "Nightshade, the lantern."

Dimitria moved in closer to it and huddled with the rest, while Tauriel kept watch over the dragon. Immediately she pulled an empty pouch from her robes that she'd fashioned from the animal hides they'd harvested as her eyes widened. 

"Fool's Gold!" she exclaimed, scooping it up and tucking it into the pouch, nearly filling it

They all looked at her, puzzled, 

"What good would it do?" Thorin asked, "It won't even serve as currency enough to a group of highwaymen?"

"The Lady in White," she said, "This is what she wanted. We'll have to bring this to her. Something has to come of allowing a spirit such as hers to pass on." 

"Bah," Thorin said, moving away and continuing his search, "Spirits having need for such things!" He scoffed at the idea, however, even his curiosity had been piqued.

"You're certain of this?" Drago asked, his wariness of the realms of spirit still evident. 

"You believe in your gods," Dimitria said, looking to him, her dark eyes glinting in the lantern's light, "but you fear the things that come from their realm." 

"The attention of the gods is nothing any of my tribe want," he said, "Their attention is more likely to bring pain and misery than joy. We honor them but we do not wish for them to do anything except accept our offerings and allow us the ability to thrive. That is all."

"You've trusted me this far," she said, "Only a little further trust is all I ask. If only until we've left this cavern and are safely back in Ferrymoon Village."

Drago nodded and slowly rose to his feet, resuming his search with Thorin as Tauriel kept watch over the dragon who still remained snoring. 

As Dimitria cleared the small pile of fool's gold away, she spied two wooden knobs in a brickless hole just behind it. She pulled them out and rolled them open, looking at the runes with which she had a passing familiarity. One of the scrolls was in Elvish. The other, she immediately recognized. She rerolled it and smiled. 

"We'll pass Finh's challenge yet!" she said, excitedly. The others turned to face her. "I've one more sleep spell!" 

"Seems you have a halfling's luck today," Tauriel said, "What is in the other scroll you seem to have found?"

"I'm unsure," said Dimitria, "It looks like it was written in Elvish but I'm not fluent in Elvish." She handed the scroll to Tauriel as she approached. Tauriel took the scroll and began unrolling it, squatting into the lantern's light to read it. 

"You're right," she said, "Good find. It's a blessing spell."

"What does that do?" asked Thorin as he continued to sniff the air. 

"We shall see if given a chance to use it," said Tauriel as she rolled it up again and slipped it into her pack, "At present, I have still have a protection spell that I can use for us. A blessing spell would be more suited to a priest if we had one, I think."

Thorin grumbled. Drago searched but shifted uneasily. The talk of magic, spells and spirits unnerved him, even though he'd been present in their uses with little to no ill effects, save for his formerly-wounded pride. 

"We should go," he said as he looked back, "before the dragon and the hobgoblins awaken. Perhaps we can use their disorientation to our advantage."

The Harbingers packed the remainder of the trinkets into their pouches and bags and slowly crept out of the room, back the way they came. Drago and Thorin led the way through the door, hobgoblins still asleep. Slowly, they crept out of the room with Drago signalling to Dimitria to quietly close the door behind her. She slowly pulled it closed and nodded to Drago to proceed forth. 

As they passed through Finh's lair, Drago and the rest nodded a greeting to the dragon who sat reading. Drago pressed a finger to his lips as Finh opened his gaping maw to say something to him and then simply closed his mouth, nodded and smiled upon Drago in admiration. Finh resumed reading through a musty tome he'd picked up from the small pile in one of the corners and let the adventurers pass through. He wondered whether or not Thorne, another dragon of which he knew was the source of the loud crash he'd heard and then banished the thought from his mind as The Harbingers passed through his lair. 

Backtracking through the cavern, the Harbingers kept their quiet creeping along. As they entered the empty room once containing a small swarm of goblins, four orcs intruded into the room at the same time. 

"KILL THEM!" one of the orcs screamed as they immediately blocked the path out of the room. 

"Dimitria!" Said Tauriel, "Trade places!"

"I don't know if I can do the spell with my sight blocked!" she responded, trading places with Tauriel. As she stepped around Tauriel, she looked and saw the hideous faces of the orcs with the tusks jutting from their mouths  and pig-like faces twisted in a rage. They were moving fast, axes and crude swords raised. 

"Somnambularum!" she cried out, pointing her staff over the dwarf's head this time. The two with raised weapons, dropped their arms before passing out. Two more, unaffected by the spell, witnessed the fall of their two comrades-in-arms falling to the ground, snoring. 

"RUUUUUN!" screamed one of them in terror, "THEY USE MAGICS!!! RUN!"

The two remaining orcs fled in terror.

As they filed into the room, Drago looked at Dimitria and nodded to her. Tauriel moved past Dimitria, momentarily placing a hand on her shoulder. They didn't bother searching the sleeping orcs for fear of waking them. Drago crept silently and carefully down the hall, taking a left into the room where only the Lady In White awaited their return. As they filed in, they allowed Dimitria to step forward. 

Dimitria produced the small rabbit pouch.

"You've found it..." the Lady In White said, a hint of astonishment in her voice, "Noble adventurers, I thank you for your great work. With this, I can pay my passage into the next world." Her attention turned to the dwarf. 

"Thorin Fireforge," she said, "Please step forward."

Dimitria made room as Thorin slowly stepped forward to face her. 

"I know that the scent of fool's gold does not please one such as yourself," she says, "I am aware that my desire for it didn't make sense to you but I do have one thing and I hope that this has made your efforts worthwhile." The Lady In White reached through the wall and pulled something through. It was a small shield.

"Thorin Fireforge," she said, "I present you with this. It is an enchanted shield of warning. May it protect and defend you as you have protected and defended those in your party. I thank you all, however, I only have one token of my appreciation."

Thorin held the shield at his feet and bowed his head. Dimitria bowed her head and recited a few lines from a funerary incantation from her own people as The Lady In White vanished from sight. 

Under Drago's lead, they crept back down the hall. They stopped at Drago's signal for them to listen. Dimitria turned as they reached the door. Immediately, they were taken by surprise. The orcs in the room had awakened and the two that had initially ran had come in behind them. They'd been pinched off in the hallway leading to the room where the orcs had been spelled to sleep. One of the orcs yelled out to kill the mage. Tauriel used her protection spell to cast a shield over Dimitria. The orc behind Dimitria swung his dinged sword and struck a mere glancing blow before the shield could fully take effect, causing a small cut on the arm that carried the lantern. She cried out in pain. 

Drago swung his own sword and missed. Thorin stepped in, swinging his bearded battle axe with everything he had. The head of his axe biting deep into one of the orcs, the deep wound he caused to the orc, a mortal one. The orc fell, unable to do anything but howl until he bled out. Tauriel thrust her own Elvish sword past Dimitria and the shield she cast into the orc behind Dimitria, the blade slipping into the unprotected flesh of his collarbone and into his chest, dropping him instantly. Dimitria thrust her staff forward at the orc charging over his dead companion and drove the end into the orc's throat blindly. A sickening crunch and a muted roar sounded as the orc dropped his own weapons and went to the stone floor clutching his windpipe, trying to get air only to suffocate where he stood. In a quick exchange, the orc in front of Drago struck, slashing Drago in the leg. Drago dropped to a knee, grunting. 

"Son of A Whore!" Drago shouted in pure unbridled fury. He swung upward, not aiming his swordstroke but aware that something warm hit him in the face. The tip of his sword had slashed the final orc's throat, causing it to drop to the ground and bleed to death the same as the one that Thorin's axe had felled. 

Thorin rushed to Drago's side, attempting to help him up

"I'm all right," Drago said, holding up a hand, rising, "I'll be fine. The blow took me by surprise."

"Can you walk?" Thorin asked. 

Drago took a few steps with a slight limp. 

"Yes," he said, "I don't suppose that the dragon will be happy when we tell him we failed." 

"On the contrary," Tauriel said as she and Dimitria entered the room, "He never said we were unable to defend ourselves if our peaceful measure failed. We encountered hobgoblins and put them to sleep, the same with the other dragon and these orcs, making two of them flee, thanks to Dimitria. We have more than honored his request. Now, we reap his reward."

Drago, Thorin and Dimitria, still clutching the cut on her arm, looked at each other for a moment and then Drago nodded that they should move ahead. 

As they entered Finh's room, he looked up from his book only to make a slight dog-ear on the page and gently close the book, placing it aside. 

"You promised three encounters with peaceful resolutions," he said, smiling, "Were you successful?"

Tauriel stepped forward and nodded. 

"Our mage, Dimitria," she said, "put to sleep a group of hobgoblins, another dragon such as yourself and two of four orcs. The other two ran when they saw her magic." 

"Ahhh, so the conditions have been fulfilled," he said, "but what were the sounds I heard coming down from the hall?"

"We were forced to do battle on the way back," said Drago, "I was wounded, so was Nightshade. The two that had been put to sleep had reawakened and the two that fled pinched us off in the hallway. They meant to kill us. We ensured that did not happen." 

"Ah," said the dragon, nodding, "Most unfortunate for them, however, you did satisfy the agreement and now, I have something for you. I promised reward, just as you promised me that you would do what you could to resolve things peacefully. You have proven yourself...and now, so shall I."

The dragon reached his claws around a brick and began to pull until the brick came free from the wall. 

"You could have killed me as well," he said, "none of you had reason to trust me but it makes me glad you did. Ellios has hidden something in this cavern. I think the tome he gave you was one to distract you from what he really had to hide and I believe the reason he needed you to dispatch Throk was because Throk was looking for it as well...a treasure." He unrolled a small piece of parchment and spread it across the floor. He pointed out the location with a claw. "I saw him place this in the wall before I entered that day. I thought he'd come looking for it but, I've not seen him since. I don't know how much he's stored but I do know he's stored something...valuable. I hope that it's very valuable. You deserve to be well-paid for the work you've done here. Protecting the village, that is noble and worth paying for."

The Harbingers looked over the map and then to each other. Thorin smiled. 

Finh rolled the parchment up and handed it to Tauriel. 

"Thank you, Harbingers," he said to them, "Perhaps the peace and quiet you offer me shall go a long way to my reading. I have longed for the day when I could read without orcs and hobgoblins coming through and breaking my concentration."

"Thank you, Finh," Drago said, "We won't forget what you've done for us." 

Finh took up his book and began reading again, using a single claw to turn the pages. The Harbingers moved back into the hallway, ready to do battle if the Hobgoblins had reawakened in their absence. 

They silently entered the room. Drago's eyes went wide as he saw the Hobgoblins awakening. One of them noticed the group and cried out to attack. Within seconds, they'd scrambled for their arms. The Harbingers immediately attacked. Thorin and Drago each killed a hobgoblin while Tauriel used the last of her fireball spells to immolate the other two in a flash. Two more emerged from behind the initial four. One swung at Drago, cutting him across his defensive arm. Drago spat a curse and rammed the tip of his sword through the hobgoblin's chest, killing it instantly. Another attacked Thorin. Thorin lifted his shield to deflect the blow and then swung his axe, burying it in the final hobgoblin's skull. 

Tauriel moved forward to search the bodies of the Hobgoblins, she found one of them had been hiding jewelry and tucked it into one of her pouches. 

She directed Dimitria to bring over the lantern. Tauriel opened the map and turned it. 

"This! Here!" she said pointing at the point on the map, "This is where the treasure is!" 

As Drago and Thorin were binding their wounds, they took their place behind Tauriel. 

"What have you found?" asked Drago

"What the dragon didn't mention," she said, "This isn't just any treasure. These runes," she said, lowering the map to the floor, pointing them out.

"The Treasure of Kerrak Dur!" said Thorin, "That's what the Hobgoblins were searching for. It's what they were defending!"

Tauriel produced the jewelry she found among the bodies. 

"I believe this is part of it," she says, "It looks like Dwarven craftsmanship."

Thorin's eyes glinted as he examined it. 

Tauriel directed Thorin and Drago to move the bodies aside. As they moved the bodies aside, Tauriel motioned for Dimitria to bring the lantern forward. She held the back of the map up to the lantern to find more runes and then began counting the stones in the wall until her hand came to rest on one. She pressed and one of the stones in the floor began to move. As it moved aside, there, nestled in the small hole in the floor was a chest. Drago and Thorin moved in to lift it from it's resting place. 

"Is this it?" Thorin asked, "So small a chest, I thought for certain there would be more than this for such a legendary treasure."

"It was heavy," Drago answered, "Is it locked?"

"No," said Thorin, shaking his head, "Sealed but not locked."

"Sealed?" Dimitria asked, holding the lantern to light it, "but not locked?"

"Aye," said the dwarf. He used the head of his axe to pry the latch. The latch popped open and Thorin opened the chest.

They all gasped in wonder at the gold that shone and glittered in the small strongbox. 

"Give me a moment to count all of this," Thorin said, "It will be divided between us." 

Drago nodded and ordered the rest of The Harbingers to secure the doors and attend their wounds. Thorin counted while they all rested. 

Thorin delivered an equal share to each of them, one hundred and twenty-five pieces of gold each. Each member of the group filled their pouches. They replaced the chest and let the stone slab in the floor slide back into place. 

The Harbingers chose the door leading to the lair of the small dragon Dimitria had put to sleep and moved through the corridor, into the room to find the dragon still sleeping. 

Tauriel and Dimitria moved in, without prompt or direction and attacked the sleeping dragon, killing it as it slept. Drago and Thorin stood in surprise. 

"If it had awakened," Tauriel said, "It would have no qualms about ending us."

Drago's surprise faded, she was right. It had displayed as much before Dimitria had put the beast under her spell. He looked to Dimitria and nodded approvingly. They moved through the northernmost corridor, following the path into their next room. 

Seven Goblin swarmlings attacked upon their entry. Tauriel sprang into action, taking three down, Drago killed one and Dimitria took out one defending Drago. Thorin, took two, splitting the skull of one, shield smashing another into a wall, crushing it between the wall and the buckle of the center of his shield. 

Tauriel felt something. There was a disturbance in the air and it was affecting her. 

As they proceeded down the corridor, Tauriel stopped, almost taking a knee as Thorin moved in to catch her. 

"It's close," she said, rising fully to her feet before feeling along the wall until she was certain. She pressed one of the large slabs of the wall only for it to swing open. Thorin and Drago stood to one side, weapons ready while Tauriel and Dimitria stood to the other side, armed as well. Drago led the group in and they came face to face with him...

"Audvermeas," Tauriel gasped, "I should have known..."

"You know him?" Dimitria asked

"Oh are these your new friends?" Audvermeas asked, "Tauriel, you never could keep them." He closed his book. "Tell me, how are things back home? Are they missing you yet?"

"A home you left and abandoned when you abandoned our ways!" Tauriel snapped in Elvish, "you are of no great loss to us!" 

"Tsk Tsk Tsk," he chided, "You think this weak mage, an old dwarf and this barbarian lout will save you? When I am done performing this ritual, which I will undoubtedly finish, I will be more powerful than even Skalitos himself. All I need is his book. You will, of course, provide it to me, mage and then I will allow you to leave, alive...for now." 

"You'll get nothing of the sort, fiend!" Drago spat, "What you will get is a taste of nothing but cold steel" 

Audvermeas laughed as he stepped from behind his podium. 

"Then let's have that taste, shall we?" he said mockingly. He lifted his hands and stretched his bony fingers to the ceiling, before he could utter the first syllable of his word, Tauriel leapt toward him and he swung with the back of his hand, his moves were like lightning but Tauriel dodged. He was narrowly missed by Tauriel's swings of her sword. Drago and Thorin moved in quickly, stabbing and swinging, still missing the Chaos Lord who's moves seemed darkly aethereal. A single stroke through the air of Dimitria's staff finally caught Audvermeas  in the temple, stopping his movement who suddenly found himself hacked, stabbed and slashed to death by the rest of them. Thorin, took his head with his axe, ensuring his death would be final. 

They searched the room for anything else they could take. The only worthwhile finds were a scroll with another sleep spell written in Elvish and some jewelry which would later be sold or traded. They sealed the room and looked at each other. 

"Nightshade," said Drago, "If you have the means, get us out of here...once and for all."  

Dimitria nodded and slowly raised her staff and lantern and uttered her incantation. As the room dissolved around them and became as clouds, soon it would form around them again as the entrance to the cavern. They emerged into full daylight. For a moment, each of them turned their faces sunward and closed their eyes. Covered in the grime, dirt, dried blood and soot from inside the cavern, they stood there, basking in the mid-day's warm glow. 

"Come," Drago said, "We're going home. I am in need of a bath and strong drink."

"Aye, lad," Thorin chimed in, "And proper food...a proper feast."

"A proper library," Dimitria chimed in, "There's still much for me to study."

"Will you not be joining us in the feast then?" Tauriel asked.

"Yes, will you not be joining us, Nightshade?" Drago asked, "You've asked me to trust you this far. You've more than earned that trust. It was my hope that it could continue, this association of ours." 

Thorin and Tauriel looked on in surprise to see Drago's change of heart. 

"Are you saying you trust me, Drago?" Dimitria Nightshade asked.

Drago took only a moment before nodding. 

"Yes," he said, "Yes. I still do not like magics but while I don't trust those spells of yours, I do still trust you. Again, I ask, as one of us, will you join us?"

Dimitria smiled. 

"I will," she said, "Perhaps study can be for another day."

The Harbingers arrived in Ferrymoon Village, stumbling into The Merciful Stag Inn. They bathed, had their wounds attended, feasted and drank their fill, regaling the Inn's patrons with their tales and petty arguments. 

Outside, a lone hooded figure peered in through the window. 

"So, Audvermeas lives no more," he muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing, "and The Harbingers prove more resourceful than I'd anticipated. Don't worry, Harbingers, I have more in store for you. 

The lone figure slipped from the porch of The Merciful Stag Inn and blended into a small caravan on their way out of the village. 

Cavern of The Chaos Lord, the end.