Bay 12 Games Forum

Urist and Vanya coughed and choked on the settling dust from the cave in. They moved down the tunnel at a somewhat leisurely pace, safe in the knowledge that it would take months to search all the mine shafts below the fortress. It was eerily quiet deep beneath the earth, and the two fugitives walked in silence for a long time.
Eventually, Vanya said, "What do we do now? We can't make it out of here, they'll have guards posted at all entrances and exits to the fortress until we are caught."
Urist shrugged heavily, "I'm not sure. I... I just don't know right now." He pursed his lips pensively, then gave Vanya a sly look, "You kissed me."
Vanya turned bright red, and pulled her hood down over her head tightly. She murmured for a moment, and then more loudly said, "I... I'm sorry. I didn't... I don't..."
Urist chuckled and said, "It's okay. I'm not upset."
Vanya's voice had an edge to it when she spoke, "But I'm an elf. No dwarf would ever love an elf."
Urist shook his head and stopped in place. He put one hand on her shoulder and said, "Those who matter won't mind that you're an elf. I don't mind. I can't get involved for other reasons, but you being an elf has nothing to do with it."
Vanya grimaced sadly, and said, "But you can't get involved? What does that mean?"
Urist struggled for words, then finally said, "I'm married."
A long silence followed that statement. They both stood there in the darkness and silence, alone yet together. Finally, Vanya said, "That... Would explain things I guess." She sounded on the verge of tears.
Urist shook his head sadly, "Not entirely. She left me before I came here, and took my child with her. She said I wouldn't be the same person after all the terrible things I'd been through and done." He sighed, "I think she was right."
Vanya said, "Well, if you're this much of a hero now, you must have been inspiring before."
Urist turned a little red at the compliment, "I'm not really much of a hero. I get lucky sometimes, and I try to do the right thing, but I'm no hero. I've known a few in my time, and they all have something special..." His voice trailed off as he put his hand on his belt pouch, and when he spoke again, it was distractedly, as if his mind was elsewhere, "...something... Something special about them..."
Vanya touched his arm lightly, withdrawing quickly, nervously after she did, "I think you have something special about you. You seem to have a purpose." She chuckled to herself, "I wish I had a-" She gasped, "My bracelet!"
Urist cocked his head quizzically, "What? You wish you had your bracelet? What does-"
Vanya was frantic suddenly, her mind racing, "No, no. I have to destroy it! Mr Frog has it! We have to destroy it."
Urist was still confused, "Why? What's so important about a bracelet?"
Vanya shook her head, "I'm... I can't tell you. I'm not really sure myself, but I just know that the bracelet is important. It has to be destroyed before Mr Frog can use it."
Urist stopped trying to understand and shrugged, "Alright, if you say we have to destroy it, then we have to destroy it. But first, how do we accomplish that? We're probably a mile under ground, far from any help, alone and being hunted by incredibly skilled and intelligent opponents. We have no supplies, no real weapons, and its just the two of us."
Vanya said, "No, we aren't alone. Hans. He said to meet him at the old malachite vein." Her voice shone with hope.
Urist said it gently, but it still deflated Vanya's optimism, "I don't know where that is. I don't live here."
She sighed, "I never went into the mining areas. It was too dangerous for skulkers. Too easy to get lost, or sealed up when the miners finished in a tunnel. I'm not sure where it is either."
They sat in silence once more. For a long time, they both were just thinking furiously. Then, something strange happened.
Light shone into the darkness of the tunnels. It was coming from Urist's belt pouch.
Urist opened the pouch, and took out the only thing it contained. A broken spearpoint. The words engraved in flowing, perfect script on its side were shining fiercely, almost too bright to look at. Urist's face was contorted strangely, mostly fearful but somewhat awed as well. Vanya looked on with confusion, not sure what was going on.
Urist pointed the spearpoint at the wall, and the glow diminished. He turned slowly, keeping it pointed out, and it started to brighten. He kept going, and it lost light past a certain point. Urist barked a short, nervous laugh, then started guffawing crazily. "This is insane. I've lost my mind, haven't I? Please tell me you see this too." He said when he finally could speak again.
Vanya spoke very slowly, "I think its pointing the way."
Urist sobered abruptly, his grin fading. "I'm not crazy then. This is... This is too much, Vanya."
Vanya smiled at him, and the beauty of her smile in the unearthly light caught his breath and held it in a vice. She said, "I told you there was something special about you."
Urist tried to speak, but all he could do was nod, dumbstruck. Finally he managed to say, "We... We better go. We've got a purpose now."
They set off swiftly, but this time they were not fugitives fleeing blindly. This time they were on a mission.
---
Following the guiding light of the spearpoint, they soon reached the vein of malachite. Once they did, the light faded instantly, leaving them once more in the stygian darkness. They crept through the tunnels cautiously now, hoping Hans was there alone, and not as bait for a trap.
As it was, they nearly walked right over him. Hans was crouched against a wall, idly twiddling his thumbs. He heard them walking softly, and said, "I hope that's you, or I'll have to be hurting someone for sneaking about."
"It's us." Vanya said softly.
Hans said, "Oh. Good." He smiled, not realizing she couldn't see him like Urist could. "Well, I've got an idea on how to get you all out of here. I've got my pick with me, and we could just dig a-"
Vanya interrupted gently, "We're not escaping. We aren't leaving, Hans."
Hans stopped talking for a long moment, then said confusedly, "But... But what are you going to do then?"
Urist said, "We've got to get to Mr Frog's quarters. Vanya must get her bracelet back. It is very important."
Hans slitted his eyes suspiciously, "Now, I don't mind helpin' you folks, but I can't be havin' you hurt Mr Frog or anyone else. That's going too far."
Vanya sighed softly, "I don't want anyone dying. No one deserves to die here. I just have to destroy the bracelet. That's all, I promise."
Hans nodded slowly, saying, "Well, if you promise. I'll help you get to the bracelet, but its going to be really hard. There's soldiers everywhere upstairs. They're watching all the main hallways like hawks. Everyone is being searched, and there's a few squads down here searching for you."
Urist smiled grimly in the darkness, "They will be sorry if they catch us. I won't kill anyone, but I'm not going to pull my punches either, if it comes to violence."
Hans shrugged, "A broken nose heals. But don't you be hurtin' anyone, like I said. I won't stand for that."
Urist started to reply, then had an idea, "Hans, you were saying a moment ago that we could just dig our way to freedom. What if we had you dig a way, say, into one of the unused hallways around Mr Frog's room. Or maybe into a ventilation shaft?"
Hans smiled easily, "That'd be easy. I could get us real close like. We'd have to be quick though, mining is noisy work once you get going." He grimaced, "And it'd be terribly messy."
Vanya grinned impishly, "Oh, by the time we get my bracelet, a little mess will be the least of our worries."
---
Several hours later, Hans had a small tunnel that led into a ventilation shaft on the living quarters level. The three squeezed through the tiny hole, Hans first, Vanya in the middle, and Urist last. Vanya was nearly hyperventilating the whole time, but Hans kept up a quiet but easy commentary to help keep her calm.
Hans said, "Yep, this here gabbro is very stable. Hardly ever shifts on its own. We aren't in an earthquake area. No sir, this stuff ain't movin' any time soon. Plus, the way I dug it, this tunnel wouldn't be changed anyways. The shock would shift around it because of the shape of it, you see. I know a couple things about tunnels." He smiled to himself as they entered the shaft, and said, "See, we made it just fine. Perfectly safe."
Vanya said, shakily, "Mmhmm. Let... Let me get into the hallway proper please. I just... I need some light."
Hans shifted the small grate easily with his prodigious strength, and let Vanya and Urist squeeze into the barely used hallway. Then he clambered out as well, and put the grate back into place.
Vanya was shivering gently, her eyes closed tightly. Urist was looking at her curiously. Finally, she opened her eyes and said, "I'm fine. I just... I just hate the dark, and tight spaces make it even worse. Let's go."
Urist nodded silently, and Hans shrugged easily. Hans said, "I ain't never met a dwarf what got scared of the dark before. Cain't you see in it too?" He paused for a second, then said again, "Why can't you see in the dark?"
Urist tensed up, and Vanya turned slowly toward Hans. Without a word, she grimaced and pulled down her hood, letting her ears show. Hans whistled softly, then said, "I ain't met no elve ever before. I thought you was a dwarfgirl this whole time. No wonder you don't like the dark, you lot are used to moonlight and such."
Urist relaxed fractionally, thankful that Hans was simple minded, or he surely would have thought Vanya was a spy. Vanya nodded at Hans and said, "I was raised as a dwarf, so I'm not really used to moonlight, but I don't see as well as you in the dark either."
Hans shrugged at her and said, "I think your ears are pretty. I wish mine were pointy like. Do you hear better than us?" His eyes widened, and he whispered, "Am I talking really loud to you? Like I was shouting? I'm sorry!"
Vanya giggled nervously, "No, you're fine. I don't think I really hear much better than you. We should get going though, we have little time."
Hans nodded, and they set off again. It was a relatively short walk to get outside Frog's door, thanks to Hans skill at finding a mine shaft near to the living quarters. As they turned the final corner, Urist realized they'd made a serious mistake.
Outside Mr Frog's door was Mr Frog himself, with a smug grin on his face. At his back was a squad of soldiers, Fischer and Draignean amongst them.
The little group stopped dead in their tracks, frozen in fear.
Mr Frog said, "I told you, Fischer. She's very predictable. It was worth the wait to see the looks on their face." He frowned, "Is that one of your soldiers?"
Fischer growled, "Not any more. And that's that annoying little diplomat bastard. Boys, let's fuck 'em up." The soldiers advanced slowly past Mr Frog, weapons readied.
Vanya, Hans and Urist started to retrace their steps, but found another pair of soldiers around the corner, in a blocking pattern. Urist sighed, "I was hoping we could skip this part til we had the bracelet."
Hans grinned, "Not me. I like a good scrap." Urist didn't bother to explain the whole 'treason thing, instead nodding.
The two soldiers braced themselves as Urist and Hans sprinted at them. The two dwarves slammed into the stationary soldiers, Hans simply bowling the macedwarf before him over like a particularly odd shaped chair being knocked over, and Urist knocked the other back a step. Urist's foe swung his mace in a short arc at Urist's face, but Urist ducked, and drove into the dwarf's midsection, picking him up briefly, then slamming him on his back.
The stunned soldier braced his feet in Urist's stomach and kicked Urist off, trying to buy room. Meanwhile, Hans batted aside a feeble kick from the other macedwarf, and landed a single solid punch right in his face. The dwarf's head bounced off the floor roughly, and he was instantly knocked out.
Urist dashed at the prone soldier, but Hans got there first. Hans grabbed the warding leg and yanked. The dwarf flew across the hallway, and slammed into the wall roughly. He wasn't unconscious, but he was definitely out of the fight for a moment. Urist beckoned, and Vanya sprinted with them out of the trap.
The squad of soldiers followed them closely, not so encumbered by armor this time, and with the element of surprise giving them significantly less distance to close. As the fugitives ran, Vanya gasped out, "I... Must get... My bracelet!"
Urist grimaced as they rounded a corner, and turned to face the oncoming soldiers. He said, "Vanya, remember our conversation earlier? About being brave? This is the time. You'll only get one chance."
Hans skidded to a stop, and returned to Urist. He was silent and grim, the adrenaline banishing all his thoughts of anything but combat. Vanya turned, torn and said in a tortured voice, "I can't do it without you."
Urist's grim face greeted her, "You must. This is my purpose. I have to buy you some time to find and destroy your bracelet. We can't run from them and do that at the same time. I have to keep their attention. And you have to go, right now."
Vanya opened her mouth, tried to summon some words, but instead, she turned and ran.
---
Urist and Hans stood braced in the hallway like the two soldiers had been earlier. The squad of dwarves rounded the corner, and stopped. Clearly they had expected to be pursuing, not being stood up to. Fischer smiled grimly, and then roared a battlecry. The squad charged.
Urist felt his beard spiking out crazily, and felt that familiar feel of time slowing to a crawl. He held his spearpoint in one hand, his stance loose and free. The hallway wasn't large enough for more than five or six dwarves to pass through easily, and there was ten in the squad. That meant all he and Hans had to do was hold back three dwarves each.
Three dwarves each, each dwarf more than a match for them in skill, equipment, momentum, and willingness to kill.
The squad reached the two lone dwarves, sheer momentum nearly crashing them into the fugitives. Urist sidestepped the first dwarf in line, his arm held out at neck level. The dwarf hit it at full tilt and flipped nearly completely over. Urist kicked him roughly in the head, hoping it would be enough to keep him down for a time, and grabbed the thrusting pike that was next in line.
He twisted and stepped, yanking the over long weapon from the dwarf's hand, and brought it down on his knee, breaking the head off. Urist dropped the two halves of the weapon. The closer dwarf of the two swung his axe in a wide, telegraphed arc. Urist didn't try to grab the weapon, as the dwarf obviously hoped, instead he punched the dwarf in the wrist hard enough to crack the bones.
The dwarf staggered back, and Urist faced the now pikeless dwarf that had tried to stab him, and Fischer.
Fischer didn't have her pike. But she was fully armored, and far faster than Urist still. She ducked as he punched at her, and drilled a fist into his side. He wheezed out all his air, and she stomped on his foot. He tried to swing again, but she pushed him before he could. Urist fell back, still anchored by that one foot. He landed heavily, and Fischer kicked him roughly in the knee. It cracked, and Urist gasped.
Urist fought past the overwhelming pain, and kicked with his other foot into Fischer's groin. She grunted, amused, and stepped off his other foot, practically inviting him to stand on his broken leg. Urist instead picked up the broken pike shaft and smashed it across her face. Fischer's look of consternation went through a metamorphosis into a rage-filled sneer, and she brutally kicked him in the side, cracking ribs.
Urist felt darkness nibbling at the edges of his vision, but he wasn't out of the fight just yet. As Fischer drew back for another kick, Urist stabbed her in the calf of her supporting leg with his spearpoint. It flared, and sliced right through the adamantine leggings, burying itself deep into her leg. Fischer gasped, and staggered back. As she did, the other dwarf finally gained an opening, and pounced on Urist.
Urist fell unconscious after the second punch crashed into his face.