The Gemcutter's Daughter

16 - The First Broken Links

"Bring me the one called Lekt," Rhesis said, her voice a growl into the narrow tube attached to the speaking stone that perfectly mimicked Maruk's snarling malice. "Bring him to the summit of the artifice."

    The little group waited with bated breath as the last echoes of the siren's stolen voice faded. The network of speaking stones that spanned the mine was at least partially active. Whether the summons for Lekt would bring them more than they could handle remained to be seen. Rhesis almost collapsed, but their mage caught her. Despite their previous animosity, Jarek seemed concerned when he looked down at the siren, a regretful gaze settling on the fresh scars where her arm had once joined to her shoulder.

    "We need to move." Tali hoped her trepidation wasn't painfully obvious in her voice. "Eiv, please carry Rhesis? I don't think she's can walk."

    "I am fine, little dwarf." Despite her words, Rhesis trembled against Jarek's chest. The siren's pain was obvious in every sharp breath. She smelled of sweat, blood, and suffering.

    Tali's heart ached. The siren had endured this for the young dwarf's sake, a reality as unjust as everything else in this place. She put a hand on Prideep's shoulder, even though she was certain she needed the bolstering more than the goblin did. "Thank you for fighting Maruk, Prideep." Tali led the way as they made their way up the sloping passages towards the crown of the artifice. Lagarra was too deep to have access to the surface, but Tali bet the vents reached larger caverns with good natural zephyrs to sweep away the toxic smoke. If they were fortunate, there would be carved walkways down halls just beneath that leading out of the artifice.

    "He is quite the little warrior." Jarek tried to infuse his tone with any lightness as he handed Rhesis off to their stone golem. Eiv could carry her without tiring. "A regular whirlwind of fury."

    Prideep puffed out his narrow, frog-like chest. Every rib protruded as he filled his lungs, the bone not anywhere near as dense as that of a dwarf or skyborn. Goblins could endure physical punishment because they flexed rather than breaking. Every point of articulation in their bodies was double-jointed, but nowhere more so than their long, suction-cupped fingers and toes. "Prideep is bravest goblin!"

    "I believe it." A tiny flicker of warmth in Tali's chest broke through her fear.

    They made their way upwards for almost an hour before reaching the crown, a circular area of the artifice with a vast vaulted ceiling. Gigantic grates formed pillars and dome of the chamber, allowing massive plumes of smoke from the mines and smelters below to vent up into a giant cavern system that would dissipate the pollution for miles upon miles of tunnels, swept by the wind towards acid lakes and deepfire.

    Just as Tali had hoped, there were several lower halls beneath the grates that lead outwards, sealed by corroded metal doors. Her clicking echolocation mapped the dwarven symbol for an artifice's exit on them and no one guarded them because of the unpleasantness of the chamber they adjoined. Opening them would be a challenge, but less of one with her stone guardian's brute strength.

    They were not alone for long.

    From a passage to their left, four forsaken emerged. These twisted creatures seemed even more viciously damaged than Lekt: each one was more scar tissue than muscle, or so it seemed from the stiffness to their movements. Their bodies were still almost dwarven, however, long torsos and arms thick, legs like pillars. Three were male, one female, but they all boasted the claws and fangs of their monstrous kind.

    None of them had metal as a part of their body, however. She heard them clicking their teeth to create sounds that would map the area and reveal her friends, inhaling air in sharp breaths to catch any hint of smell aside from the overwhelming reek of smoke. The sounds showed them as well, though: none of the four were Lekt. Tali's heart sank like a stone cast into a lake.