“Let me tell you something, Alex; if Rosa was like Maya’s surrogate mom all those years at Xarparion, I was probably closest to being her dad. She and I have always talked a lot, even on the trip to Sky Raven; and I can tell you right now that little girl loves you more than life itself. However bad you’re feeling right now, hangover included; believe me, she is feeling a lot worse. It took a mountain of courage and sacrifice to order you out of the city like that. Hell, she probably knew the only way to actually get you to leave was to hurt your feelings, and it worked perfectly!”
By this time, I had my head in my hands, and I was seriously considering the attractive option of just slipping over the side and letting my armor drag me to the bottom of the river. Why do I always feel like such an idiot when it comes to women? And now I left her there to face who-knows-what…alone.
Nia stood up on my shoulder and shook her head gravely at Darroth. “Wow, great pep talk right before a battle, Darroth. You should really turn pro at this.”
About this time, Elsa wandered back to us and frowned at the long faces. “Hey, we’re just about there. Nia, what did you think of the boat ride?”
“It was awesome!” she said brightly, determined to single-handedly lighten the mood. “But how do you get the boats back up the river?”
Elsa chuckled proudly. “It’s not a river, little one; it’s a dwarf-built water loop. Think of it like when you push water around the curve of a bathtub, the water just travels in a constant direction in a circle. If we stayed on this boat, we would eventually end up back where we started.”
“But what keeps the water moving?”
“Steam from deep magma flows power an array of turbines; think of them as big fan paddles that moves the water. If you want a more precise answer, you’ll have to talk to an engineer, but they are a surly closed-mouthed lot.” She looked up and grinned. “We’re here!”
Elsa’s guys used their brawn to pole us into the shallows. We were entering another docking station, the path from which opened into a larger cavern area. I was startled to see actual daylight peaking through from above, and a huge pile of stone debris on the floor below. Beyond the debris field was the remains of a fortified guard station; and farther behind that, on the far wall at least two hundred paces from the docking area, were five huge banded metal doors. Four were intact, but the fifth was barely on its steel hinges. It looked like something had ripped it open, tore it right out of its framework. There was a small crowd of workmen assembling materials to fix the structure on one side of the door, and on the other, a group of about eighteen of Elsa’s people lounged about, checking weapons and sorting ropes.
Elsa strode up to them as they turned to salute her. “Situation report,” she barked eagerly.
One of the men, who looked at bit older than the others, leaned in to talk to her. “Elsa, it appears the beast broke into the vault overnight two days ago and is still in there. It made a mess of the guard station and the garrison before it went inside. You’ve already heard the survivors’ reports. I sent one of our scouts through for a quick listen and he reported a lot of arguing going on inside.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“Not they, it. Iron Shoulders went in against orders and took a peek. He reported it’s a huge, three-headed creature that appears to be searching for something; and there apparently was some disagreement between the heads on the best way to find it.”
“Three heads?” Elsa tilted her head, intrigued. “Any clue what it’s looking for?”
“No, ma’am, only that it’s old and made of stone.”
“Hmmm.” Elsa turned and gave me a measured look.
“ Sounds like a chimera, Alex, ” Rosa supplied in my thoughts.
“Sounds like a chimera,” I echoed out loud.
The dwarves looked at me in confusion. But I knew what a
By this time, I had my head in my hands, and I was seriously considering the attractive option of just slipping over the side and letting my armor drag me to the bottom of the river. Why do I always feel like such an idiot when it comes to women? And now I left her there to face who-knows-what…alone.
Nia stood up on my shoulder and shook her head gravely at Darroth. “Wow, great pep talk right before a battle, Darroth. You should really turn pro at this.”
About this time, Elsa wandered back to us and frowned at the long faces. “Hey, we’re just about there. Nia, what did you think of the boat ride?”
“It was awesome!” she said brightly, determined to single-handedly lighten the mood. “But how do you get the boats back up the river?”
Elsa chuckled proudly. “It’s not a river, little one; it’s a dwarf-built water loop. Think of it like when you push water around the curve of a bathtub, the water just travels in a constant direction in a circle. If we stayed on this boat, we would eventually end up back where we started.”
“But what keeps the water moving?”
“Steam from deep magma flows power an array of turbines; think of them as big fan paddles that moves the water. If you want a more precise answer, you’ll have to talk to an engineer, but they are a surly closed-mouthed lot.” She looked up and grinned. “We’re here!”
Elsa’s guys used their brawn to pole us into the shallows. We were entering another docking station, the path from which opened into a larger cavern area. I was startled to see actual daylight peaking through from above, and a huge pile of stone debris on the floor below. Beyond the debris field was the remains of a fortified guard station; and farther behind that, on the far wall at least two hundred paces from the docking area, were five huge banded metal doors. Four were intact, but the fifth was barely on its steel hinges. It looked like something had ripped it open, tore it right out of its framework. There was a small crowd of workmen assembling materials to fix the structure on one side of the door, and on the other, a group of about eighteen of Elsa’s people lounged about, checking weapons and sorting ropes.
Elsa strode up to them as they turned to salute her. “Situation report,” she barked eagerly.
One of the men, who looked at bit older than the others, leaned in to talk to her. “Elsa, it appears the beast broke into the vault overnight two days ago and is still in there. It made a mess of the guard station and the garrison before it went inside. You’ve already heard the survivors’ reports. I sent one of our scouts through for a quick listen and he reported a lot of arguing going on inside.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“Not they, it. Iron Shoulders went in against orders and took a peek. He reported it’s a huge, three-headed creature that appears to be searching for something; and there apparently was some disagreement between the heads on the best way to find it.”
“Three heads?” Elsa tilted her head, intrigued. “Any clue what it’s looking for?”
“No, ma’am, only that it’s old and made of stone.”
“Hmmm.” Elsa turned and gave me a measured look.
“ Sounds like a chimera, Alex, ” Rosa supplied in my thoughts.
“Sounds like a chimera,” I echoed out loud.
The dwarves looked at me in confusion. But I knew what a
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