Chapter 12: Into the Labyrinth

I took the first watch again, and when Shave relieved me, I wanted nothing more than to sleep. I had to be ready tomorrow morning. Ticks was right—we couldn’t lose anyone else on what was supposed to be a routine escort mission. If there was anything I could do about it, I had to.

As it was right now, I might not have been able to make massive, sweeping changes to the world. But I could affect me and my circumstances, and I could affect what happened around me. I didn’t have to let my companions die. That meant I’d need to have a full awareness of what was going on.

It didn’t exactly work out that way. The anticipation kept me awake longer than I wanted, and I woke up a few times throughout the night. But in the morning, the cold breeze was more than enough to wake me up and get my senses back about me.

Once everyone was ready, we gathered our equipment and returned to the Labyrinth entrance.

“Lights,” Shave commanded.

Elf and Romance led the way. They reached into their kit bags and retrieved a yellow canister each. It was made of glass and about the same size as a roll of nickels. With a shake, they awakened a cloud of fireflies within each canister. Romance hooked it onto the front of his shield, and Elf attached his to a hook on the side of his helmet.

They illuminated the way ahead. I glanced at Shave and said, “I didn’t get one of those.”

“Lieutenant Finger didn’t trust you with glass.” Shave shrugged. “He said you’d fall on it and break it, and since we’re short on buglights, he didn’t want to waste one on you. Now lad, you wanted to be here, so keep up.”

We descended down a stairway. The floor was made of rough, weathered marble, which had seen probably centuries of moss growth. It was a miracle it wasn’t worse. The spiderwebs, however, was what had me the most nervous. They made curtains at the edge of the walls, hanging from the ceiling and covering anything that wasn’t a direct route through the center of the hall.

It was wide enough to fit a wagon through, though, and that meant we could walk side-by-side. I took a position beside Ticks in the second row.

“Labyrinths have two components,” Shave said. It was probably mostly for my benefit. “Hallways and rooms. The orcs almost always make their raid camps in the rooms. They stay for a few weeks before they empty them out and retreat with their spoils.”

“We can’t take an entire camp of orcs on our own,” Ticks replied. “Not in a direct confrontation.”

“No,” Shave replied. “I’d bet a different battalion or a mercenary squad is already preparing a mission to clear this place out. But by then, it will be too late for the prisoners—and we’re just here for them. We’ll sneak into the camp, get in, and get out before anyone notices. Just like when we nabbed a turkey from Sir Buthwin’s pen at Homecamp.”

“It’s not nearly the same thing,” Ticks replied. “And we’ve got the newbie with us.”

“He saved your ass, remember,” Romance replied.

“After I saved his.”

I was silent through the whole affair, and moments later, Shave whispered, “Be quiet. Orcs were here recently.”

Shreds of moss and strands of spider silk littered the floor. The orcs would’ve cleaved through the hall on their way in and out.

Finally, we arrived at a room at the end of the hall. It had a high ceiling with a dome, and pilasters lined the edges. There was an inactive fountain in the center with algae-filled water in its basin.

“Each room normally has a monster in it,” Shave replied. “But this close to the surface, good luck finding anything. If the orcs don’t clear them out, then the non-Dupe adventurer squads that scour the land, mapping out Labyrinth entrances, most certainly do. You won’t find much.”

“How deep would you have to go?” I asked.

“At least five or six rooms. Of course, Labyrinths attract monsters and beasts to enter them, so they’ll refill naturally over time, but adventurers love clearing them out. As much as they can.” Shave sighed. “The point is, any monsters we encounter down here will be too strong to handle, ‘cause the weak ones are already gone.”

“Except the orcs,” Romance said, as if trying to reassure himself. “We can handle those.”

This room had numerous adjoining hallways, all leading to other rooms. One had a stairway that led downward.

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“Show us the way, Shave,” Elf said. “Or we’re going to be going in circles.”

Shave pulled off his helmet then triggered his perception skill, then pointed to the left and said, “That way. Down that hall. I’m counting nearly thirty Iron-tier orcs and one Steel…creature with them.”

“Call it, sarge,” Ticks said.

“They’ve got guards in this hallway. But there’s a back route which isn’t guarded.”

“Just like the fucking turkey…” Romance groaned.