Late FelsiteThe churning sound from the screw pump reverberates through the very earth. It has done so for the past month or so. Churning that water in puddles around the pump itself, sploshes heard from time to time. The only thing happening a mile from us being the constant woodcutting, wood block carpentry, hauling, building and the damned churning. There is always somebody awake to churn the forsaken thing, and always somebody to build the walls necessary to block off the aquifer. Anybody who dares have free time is ordered to stand on the next floor above the screw pump and to be ready to haul, build or churn. One day when Tsiru and I were in the dormitory, trying to fall asleep, the churning had stopped while they changed for a few minutes and Tsiru started imitating the churning sound. I threw a rock over his head but it would appear that Tsiru is already too hardheaded for it to have an effect.
The noise of Arx’s hammer is dulled with every hit as the damp walls suck the sound away, the water at his groin. He was forced to tightly braid his beard and wrap it around his neck. The reason he didn’t do this very often was apparently because it is dangerous, and might suffocate him if he doesn’t pay attention to it. The walls he builds on the destroyed aquifer walls hold steady and keep any water from leaking. He told me they would need to be replaced with good hard stone once we pierce the aquifer. I promised him that we would expand the walls to three layers once we got stone and had time.
It is a well known fact that forumites cannot function properly without booze. What is little known is that we develop anxious behavior the longer we stay away from the comfortable safety of our stone halls. While Tsiru and I have been away from the great stone hallways of our kind for a long, long time, we were trained for that. The whole reason why it was Tsiru, a simple apprentice of a loremaster and not an actual loremaster that came to the surface to study the ancient writings was because he had a greater resistance to the surface symptoms that plague us. On the other hand I was a part of the royal council guard. I was bred and trained for war. Instincts honed, I was taught to always be alert, and to do that, no small amount of anxiety is required. The surface was practically child’s play, though it did get to me on particularly bad days. Just like when you’re play-fighting with children and you accidentally stumble and they all jump on top of you, making what was supposed to be an easy thing that much harder. I do recall fighting children just like that once, however I wouldn’t be alive if I had stumbled. They were undead after all.
A stale plump helmet, one of the last ones we had because the others were delegated for farming, joined with my stomach when Tsiru entered the dormitory chambers where I had been eating. He seemed rather excited. More excited than usual in fact. My feet immediately jumped standing as a hope in my mind sprang.
“Apiks! Arx told me to call you. We’re nearly done with the walls. We are nearing the final building. The water has almost ceased causing puddles.”
Without waiting for him, I started to run, running towards the churning sound. I rounded the corner at the door and saw that TheFlame52 had taken Tsiru’s spot on the screw pump. Running with all my might I reached the end of the hallway, nearly colliding into Arx with happiness as I saw his stupid grin.
“It’s almost done, I just need to build one more wall. Care to do the honors of churning the last water out? It was your idea after all.” I swear I saw his grin widen, though whether it did nobody could know as his dense beard covered every muscle that dared so much as to twitch.
Wordlessly I went over to TheFlame52’s spot and took the lever from him. He gave me a slight smile as well as a sigh of relief for his muscles. “Careful not to break it now, strongwoman.” I wrapped my hands around the smoothened wood of the lever. It was damp from sweat. I braced myself for pushing, straining my muscles and churned. The water started forming puddles faster than I had anticipated, given so close to our goal. Arx immediately went downstairs and started forming the final wall. I kept churning, focusing my entire attention on the task at hand. Everybody had gathered to watch the high point of three months of work.
Finally, Arx came up the stairs, a triumphant look on his face. Moments later the water that was being pumped stopped. All we were left with was a big puddles of water. Tsiru wordlessly took his pick and formed a small channel in the middle of the hall for the water to go into until it evaporated naturally. I stood before the last piece of dirt that stood between us and the sacred rock. All I had to do was give the order. Our two miners formed in front of it, ready to fashion stairs. I gave the order.
“Mine away.” And they started mining. Half an hour later our experienced miners were done. We were able to go down the next level. I told them to do so as I turned around for a much deserved break. As I was walking down the corridor with a few other forumites, I heard a yell behind me. Turning my body around rapidly, I saw it was Tsiru from the stairs. He was shouting for me. I ran towards him, my feet feeling heavier with each step, a dread forming in the pit of my stomach. Finally I reached his scared eyes. “What happened, Tsiru? What happened down there?”
A look of desperation crossed Tsiru’s face and he took a breath. “There was more of the aquifer underneath the stairs. The thin aquifer space wasn't large enough to cover that area.”
His words hit me like the mythical creature truck. My eyes widened, anxiety now in full force, but my battle instincts keeping me from going into panic. I took another two steps towards Tsiru before my knees gave and I fell on them. My arms stood beside me. Defeat overwhelmed my senses.
“I… I have failed you.” I just stared at the stairs. The stairs to nothing. Second passed and those seconds turned into minutes. Those minutes felt like hours to me. I had failed in my mission. The shock of it all overwhelmed me and I collapsed with a sound thunk on the dirt floor. I could’ve sworn I heard shouting in the background as the darkness overtook me.
Some time later…A black space enveloped me as I floated around in it. Was this the afterlife? Did I even care anymore? Not much went through my mind as I floated around the dark space. After what felt like days I started hearing something, so imperceptible but still something. I strained my ears for it but found nothing. Hours later the sound came back and I listened for it. It sounded like shouting. Then it was gone again. Hours later it came back, but this time brought a light with it. I heard the sound much more clearly now. It was clearly shouting, and a rather frantic one too. There was also a more metallic sound in the background, almost rasping. The image was a mix of violet and white surrounded by the blackness. And then it was gone again. After another hour the sounds and images came back. This time it was a lot more vivid. There stood two forumites, one on the ground, the other above him, blackened. The rasping noise was a mix of screams, laughter and what I recognized as the grunting of the undead. And then it was gone again.
A bit later I heard the sound again. I strained my ears again and focused my mind on it, but an image did not come. The sound rose in volume until I practically heard it shouted in my mind. The sound of it grated on my nerves so much I tried moving my body. My toes moved, then my fingers, then my legs and finally my torso. With one large push I moved my entire body upwards and felt red. A crash, and a scream. My eyes opened.
Tsiru laid on the ground, grasping his head with both his hands, groaning. My eyes threw furtive glance around the environment to orient myself. It was the dormitory. I was back. But the images… not a worry for now. I threw the covers away from me only to find myself naked and immediately put them on again. Of course I’m naked. Basic medical procedures in the army. If you were bitten by an undead, they needed to amputate that limb immediately, even if it was the neck. Wrapping the sheets tighter around me, the groaning forumite finally took a hold of himself and regarded me with surprised eyes.
“Apiks! You’re okay! I was so worried when you collapsed like that.” A moment later he noticed my naked feet and his ears turned red rather quickly. “I-I-I-I wasn’t the one that removed your clothes. Everybody was worried and I told them what you did in the army and Arx volunteered to do it. You were out for a day, Apiks. Some of us were even talking about going back to the mountainhome if you didn’t wake up.”
Typical of civilians. Just a whiff of trouble and they’re off. “Forget about that. I’m back and we’re not going anywhere.” I then remembered something and winced. “What happened to the aquifer?”
“Oh! About that. Apparently during the building process it was necessary to wall off the thin layer of aquifer that we had originally found. I made the decision to dig out the stairs there and found that it worked! While a tiny space, we do in fact now have access to stone!”
My mouth was open agape. I saw him beaming with pride and satisfaction and decided to let him have his moment.
“Tsiru. Get my clothes.” And Tsiru went off with a salute. He did it properly, fist hitting his chest twice. “Things just got a whole lot harder.”
Author
Topic: NecroThreat IV: Fortress for BFEL, God of Necromancy (Read 516746 times)