The Child had been missing for a day now, an anxious mother brought to Fharads chamber by her husband after he returned home from his duties, had spilled out her tale in a jumble of words whilst she wrung her hands in her apron, her tear streaked face a stark contrast to the stern visage adopted by her husband but Fharad could tell by his eyes that he was just as distressed as his partner over the disappearance of their daughter.
Fharad glanced at the scribe at their desk in the corner of his official chamber, making notes on a parchment of everything that the Dwarf Couple said so that the details could be reviewed later, Fharad had already despatched two of the “Greys”, the members of the Tunnel Rangers who also served as the Holds unofficial law enforcement and, as it now seemed, their search and rescue force as well, to the Domestic Level that the Parents of the missing child had been allocated a dwelling space on.
As the stricken Dwarf Woman’s story tailed away Fharad stood and moved around the table, he clasped her hands in his.
“Fear Not GoodWife Nis, we will find you little Brigga and return her to you, return to your home and await our word” with a nod to her husband he steered the Dwarf Woman to the door and watched as they walked away, him with his arms around her shoulders and offering words of comfort.
“Fetch me Dolgren” he said to one of the guards outside his door “and then alert the barracks, we may have a long day night ahead of us”.
Dolgren Rogarth was drunk, not merry or tiddled but Drunk. Seriously drunk in the way that took determination and will, both of which Dolgren had in abundance. He had been looking forwards to the end of this duty period for a long time, as a Ranger he was required to spend one Duty period a Year on the surface for refreshing his Ranger Skills, skills that could save his life in a dangerous situation, Dolgren snorted at the thought, he was a Grey, a subterranean Ranger that had been trained to survive in the confines of the lower levels, mines and caverns of the Dwarf Hold and the mountain it was built into, the surface world was a necessary evil he had to persevere and his reward for a month spent under the roofless sky amongst the teeming noisy, busy, well Nature was this Drunk and after this he would find a nice quiet, dark, rocky place to sleep it off in solitude until his next Duty period started. He was sat contemplating this future when his blurry vision registered a grey shape stood before him, he looked up into the four amused sky-blue eyes of his Troop Second Alman, Alman was smiling, a broad, beaming smile that Dolgren’s booze fuddled brain recognised as a danger signal.
“No” Dolgren said and Alman nodded, “NO” Dolgen bellowed and Alman Nodded harder”NOOOOOOO” Dolgren howled and Alman Laughed.
Half an hour later Fharad looked up as his door opened and two Dwarfs walked in, the first Dwarf was stout, even for a Dwarf, his blocky head with its curly black hair sat straight onto his square shoulders and his broad, greyclad body gave the impression of innate strength not bulk and his dour expression gave no indication of jollity. He was followed by a slightly taller and wirier, for a Dwarf at least, blonde dwarf with an open, friendly face and amusedly sparking eyes.
“Ah Dolgren, I hope my summons didn’t disturb you resting after your Surface Training? I know how strenuous that can be. I have a situation I need your particular set of skills to handle and it is rather urgent I’m afraid” Fharad looked at the scowling Dolgren and raised an eyebrow “Why are you soaking wet?” Dolgren scowled deeper and Fharad quickly cleared his throat and continued” A child has gone missing from the Dwelling level on the Eastern side of the reclaimed area near to the underway terminus, we didn’t want to spread alarm amongst the residents but preliminary investigations have indicated an incursion and we want you to handle it, with discretion of course”
Dolgren stepped forwards and Fharad looked with dismay at the puddle of water on the floor where he had been stood.
“What evidence do you have?” Dolgren said, fixing Fharad with a look of intense concentration. Fharad gestured to his clerk who stepped forwards with a sheaf of papers he offered to Dolgren, Dolgren fixed him with a glare from one baleful eye then jerked his head over his shoulder to indicate Alman, the clerk handed the sheets to Dolgren’s smiling assistant and stepped back.
“All the evidence we have collated so far is there” he said. Dolgren nodded “have the barracks been alerted?” he asked, when Fharad nodded he said “Good” and then with measured care he about faced and walked out of the room dripping water of Fharads carpet as he went.
“Why is he soaking wet?” Fharad said to a grinning Alman” Look at my Carpet!”
“The state he was in, it was the only way I could get him sober enough to walk” laughed the blonde Dwarf and, saluting Fharad with the papers in his hand, he wheeled and strode chuckling from the room.
The Greys Barracks was in turmoil, since the alert had come, all the Rangers currently at the barracks had begun gathering their equipment and checking their weapons, also they had begun wondering exactly what the alert was about and, when the answer wasn’t forthcoming, they began to speculate amongst themselves. This speculation was cut off in full flow when the bleary-eyed visage of their Commander appeared in the archway door to the barracks chamber. All conversation stopped as they turned to face their leader at the position of attention. Dolgren sketched a quick salute and then addressed his troops.
“Full rations for three days and light patrol order only, be ready to move in one Hour!” the Rangers saluted their leader and swung into action, picking up their small packs and weapons and heading to the Galley to draw their rations.
Dolgren staggered into his chamber and flopped onto the large Bearskin covered chair that filled one corner of the room. Alman was already sat in a similar chair across the room reading through the sheaf of papers Fharads clerk had given him.
“What’s the story?” Dolgren asked “Fharad sees Incursions in every open door” he griped.
“A child went missing at the Underway terminus, playing with friends one minute, not at all there the next. No marks or signs of a struggle, no witness heard cries or screams of any nature but her playmates all reported the smell of mushrooms and a cold wind” Almans brow furrowed briefly as he read the papers in his hand, he turned the sheet over and discovering the back was blank, looked up at Dolgren with a helpless look on his face. “That’s the long and short of it”.
“Plip”
“Plip”
“Plip”
Garren sighed and shifted his weight from his left foot to his right, he had lost count of the times he had eased his aching feet by doing so and he was heartfully fed up with the echoing sound of water steadily dripping from the cavern roof somewhere down the pitch black passage ahead of him. He was part of a party of Tunnel Rangers sent out from the Free Dwarf hold at Bowland to clear the previously unexplored passages of the old Underway that Ran from the Hold to the Border Fortlet on the Hodor River, if the Free Dwarfs could use this passage it would provide safety to travellers and rapid reinforcement to the Border Guards at the Fortlet, but first the Tunnel Rangers had to explore it and make sure it wasn’t blocked by rockfall or worse, inhabited by enemies. Once the Tunnel Rangers had cleared the Tunnel then the Engineers and stoneshapers could move in and make sure it was structurally sound before reactivating its ventilation and lighting systems once again.
Garren was standing sentry for the rest of his troop of Tunnel Rangers, they had eaten their rations of Oggy, the spicy goat meat and jelly pastry parcels they carried with them for sustenance, safely wrapped in thick glazed pastry the oggy’s lasted for days and provided useful energy for the tough Dwarfs. Now the Dwarfs were resting fitfully on the passageway floor before pressing on further. While they were resting, they showed no lights and relied on their pickets to keep them safe. Garren checked the hammer slung in his belt and hefted his crossbow while switching his weight to from right to left again, then he froze, no longer could he hear the splash of water from further down the passage. Garren groped behind him until he felt a rope, he gave it three sharp tugs and waited, a sharp tug on the rope answered him, then another. He let go of the rope and carefully moved his hand back to the crossbow, he raised the crossbow and sighted down its length into the darkness, although he couldn’t see anything he could almost feel a presence out there in the dark now.
There was a faint sound behind him and a voice whispered in his ear “Report”.
Without turning his head Garren whispered “Something blocked the Water”
He felt the other Dwarf move away and heard the slight metallic noise of a catch being released “Ready” he whispered as he sighted down the Crossbow again.
There was a rasp of metal and a bright beam of light shone down the tunnel as Garren’s companion opened the shutter on his lantern and instantly Garren saw the light reflected in a dozen pairs of yellow eyes.
“Ware Goblins” he yelled as he triggered his crossbow, the bolt intersecting the distance directly between a pair of yellow eyes which hurtled backwards, then he drew the hammer from his belt as the lanterns light revealed the unfortunate Goblin’s brethren charging at the Dwarfs brandishing an assortment of jagged rusty knives and clubs. From behind Garren came a volley of crossbow bolts that cut down several more of the charging Goblins before the grey clad Dwarfs surged forwards to meet them. Garren spent the next few minutes in the brutal cut and thrust of close quarters battle and it was almost a surprise when he had no more foes to fight and stood panting in the corridor amongst several of his fellow Rangers. At their feet lay the bodies of a dozen or so pale Goblins, dressed in mushroom leather armour.
“Scouts” spat the Patrols Commander, Dinen, “we need to pull back” the rest of the Dwarfs started to gather their gear, they had been lucky and, although some had picked up scratched and grazes, none had been severely wounded and the grateful pats and nods that they gave Garren showed that they appreciated his vigilance and the warning it provided them in time to win the skirmish.
Suddenly there was a deep growling noise and in the distance down the straight passage could be seen the reflection of flames shooting out, then a hellish groaning noise could be heard accompanied by a rhythmic clacking sound.
Garren looked at Dinen and they both looked towards the oldest member of the Patrol, the grizzled veteran Walthof.
“Mincer” he nodded, “Big one too, we had best skedaddle”
As one the Dwarfs turned and ran, surefooted, back down the passage towards the hold. The Goblins were in the Tunnel system in force and they needed to warn their Kin of the threat so they could organise a proper expedition to clear, secure and open the Underway for the good of the Hold.
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