Pathway To Eternity

The dwarves at the front of the group had begun forming the others into three columns. Ju Feng watched them as two dozen more dwarves spilled into the cavern and glanced at Abron. 

"This is no scouting mission we're undertaking."

"No, it's not," 

Abron agreed. 

"Last night, a couple of scouts reported that the Cavern of The Forgotten Souls had been cut off by a cave-in. They claimed they heard fighting on the other side, but the debris was too much for them to clear alone. We're venturing out to clear the passage and get our people out of there … if any are still alive."

I

"The cavern of the  Forgotten Soils?" Ruen asked.

"A mining outpost three miles straight east of here. It's got lots of long, narrow tunnels emptying out into wider spaces, like knots on a rope. We've been filtering our warriors to the outpost for a tenday now because we thought it one of the likeliest places for the yaomos to assault."

"Why would they risk fighting on a battleground like that?" 

Ju Feng asked. Small spaces and bottlenecks could cut soldiers off from each other quickly. While this would hamper both sides, the dwarves knew the sizes of their own tunnels better than the drow did and could better control the field.

"Because if they can take those tunnels, it cuts off one of our major supply routes to the surface and denies us access to a major source of ore. We've tried to keep its importance a secret, but the damn drow spies are everywhere. Some of them are infiltrating the outposts in magical disguise. For all we know, they might have had their scouts in place for months."

Abron said. He and Ju Feng fell into step with the company, walking side by side in two of the columns. Obrin walked in the third column, but as usual, he remained silent. 

"New faces weren't noticed?" 

Ju Feng asked before continuing. 

"With the diminished population, I'd have thought spies would be easier to detect."

"Sometimes they are, but other times, the yaomo kill our people in secret and take their places. We don't find the bodies until later, if at all." 

Abron's hand tightened on his axe. Ju Feng saw the rage barely contained by the gesture. The Blackhorn patriarch's only comfort lay in the promise of spilling yaomo's blood. He sighed as he reminisce on the luxury of cultivation they enjoyed in his home world and others like that. He could imagine what the dwarves would be willing to do to be able to cultivate and achieve immortality. 

"Your family was kind to offer us hospitality." 

Ju Feng said, thinking it wise to change the subject.

Abron looked at him and nodded. His lips twisted in what might have been a smile, but the bitterness underlying the expression made it difficult to tell. 

"My daughters offer you their hospitality because they have faith in the king's judgment. For my part, I think we should have killed that yaomo prisoner long ago. The king's wasting valuable time worrying about him. Now your friend has given him another excuse to sit in his hall and fret over the creature instead of focusing on readying our armies. You'll not be offended or surprised to learn that I am not as glad of your presence as my daughters."

"I'm not offended. But why doesn't king Laggarma have your loyalty?"

Temper flared in the runepriest's eyes. Ju Feng wondered what he had said wrong, but Abron quickly hid the emotion and regarded him with a measured glance. 

"Perhaps it's a failing in the language. I don't count faith and loyalty to be equal. I would die for my king—he is one of my oldest friends—but there are limits to what he can accomplish, especially …"

Abron stopped. He seemed suddenly reluctant to speak. Ju Feng waited, but he saw the restraint enter the dwarf's expression, the mistrust, as if he'd just then remembered he was talking to an outsider and not one of his own people.

They walked on in silence. Ju Feng's's thoughts were a little troubled. If the dwarves of Myria doubted their king, it was yet one more obstacle they had to overcome in their struggle with the yaomo. Was it age or infirmity in king Laggarma that brought out Abron's doubts? 

Ju Feng had not noticed any such deficiency in the king during their audience. King Laggarma had come across as strong, cunning, and dedicated to his people. Perhaps there was a deeper, unknown madness that Ju Feng feared. The thought stirred the blood in Ju Feng's veins. He pictured Icelin sitting in the library with the yaomo prowling around her. He dreaded the prospect of leaving the city, of leaving her unprotected. Well, she had her glaive. And her mystical arts were very powerful for her age, albeit some issues she was having. 

Still, Ju Feng was uneasy. He reminded himself that obtaining the Arcane Script Sphere and prolonging Chang Chang's life was worth the risks they took, but the words didn't give him as much comfort as they marched along increasingly narrow tunnels and left Myria behind.

***

Chang Chang froze in the act of reaching for the fallen book, which now lay open to the third page, blank but for an inscription written in an elegant hand. Chang Chang read the words aloud. 

"'To my lovely Aribella, on the occasion of the end of a life.' Strange."

Gallazza walked over and stood beside her and asked. 

"You read dwarvish?" 

Chang Chang blinked at him. 

"You're mistaken. The language is Common tongue." 

She pointed to the text on the tome. She wasn't brave enough to pick up the book. One of the first things she'd learned in her study of magic was never touch anything magical without first knowing the nature of the magic—a lesson she'd already been reminded of with the yaomo rings.

Gallazza went down on one knee and squinted at the inscription. 

"It appears it alters the appearance of the text to suit the preferences of its reader. I've encountered such tomes before."

"Where you came from?" 

Chang Chang asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"Yes …" 

But the drow paused, uncertain, drawing out the word and staring intently at the book as if he could conjure the other from his memory.

"Was it dangerous?"

"What?"

"The scroll you encountered. Did it contain harmful magic?"

"I don't … it doesn't matter," 

Zollgarza said and continued. 

"This is a different tome. It may have any number of powers or destructive magic stored in its pages.The tome will do you no ill, so long as you intend no ill toward the tome," said a woman's voice.

Chang Chang and Zollgarza both jumped. 

The sepulchral voice seemed to come from every corner of the room at once. 

"Show yourself!" 

Gallazza shouted. 

"Another one of your mind probing spell?"

Ignoring the yaomo's trade, Icelin turned to see how the guards at the door reacted to the voice. There were two of them dressed in the king's livery, and both wore gleaming mithral maces at their belts, though neither had drawn their weapons. Their gazes were fixe Gallazza, but other than the obvious distaste in their eyes, Chang Chang detected no emotion.

"Did you hear that voice?" she addressed them.

The guard standing to the left of the door nodded. 

"Nothing to be scared of." 

The said, shooting a mocking smile in Gallazza's direction. His smile softened when he addressed Chang Chang. 

"It's the king's Lochal. She means no harm."

"Never thought I'd hear her voice again." 

The other guard said wistfully.

"Is she a wraith or simply invisible?"

Chang Chang asked again.

"It's complicated. Better to let her explain herself." 

The first guard said. 

Soft, throaty laughter echoed from near the fire turned and saw a dwarf woman sitting in the chair Gallazza had occupied. She rose, spilling golden hair over her shoulders and down to her waist. The woman was shorter than most of the other dwarf women Chang Chang had seen, including Ongara and Droya. Her bright green eyes matched the robes she wore. The loose sleeves were lined in gold brocade, and she wore tan leather boots on her feet.

"Well met." 

The woman said, inclining her head. 

"I am the Lochal of the library and the caretaker of scrolls and tomes." 

l

She approached Chang Chang and held out. Chang Chang took it. She was half-surprised to find it solid. 

"King Laggarma instructed me to aid you. He indicated that time was short." 

The woman's face creased with sadness. 

"I will be happy to render any assistance I can. I am familiar with the titles and text of every book in the library and can retrieve any tome or scroll you wish."

"You've read them all?" 

Chang Chang said, stunned. 

"And you remember everything in them?" She wondered if the woman was afflicted with a spellscar just like her own. CHANG CHANG couldn't imagine trying to find space enough in her head to store the knowledge of all these books. She'd go mad with the effort.

The Lachal smiled. 

"Yes, I remember—more accurately, instead of reading them all, I am them all."

"She's of the spirit, not flesh—a magical constructs for fetching books." 

He went back to the fire and sat down, retrieving his book.

"A shame it is to have the library polluted in this fashion." 

The Loschal said, eyeing the yaomo in disgust. She turned to Chang Chang and addressed her.. 

"What would you have of me?"