Chapter 33

Jeremy awoke. In the middle of the night, a rumble gently shook the room. Dust sifted onto the floor. He sat up in the silence, in the blackness that can only be found underneath the world. The only light: the fire in his room was reduced to small embers during his slumber, glowing faintly in the dark. The door opened as Jeremy set his feet on the floor.

“Did you feel that?”, Wan asked tension clinging to her pale cheeks.

“What do you think that was?”, Jeremy responded with a question of his own.

Worry painted her face as the light from the open door painted the room in an orange hue, “The Great White Duke is awake and on the move!”.

The Great White Duke, he was the vampire lord, that had made the surrounding area his domain. Could his gaze penetrate rock?

Jeremy opened his mouth, “Can he sense us?”.

Wan shook her head as she entered the room and stood before Jeremy as he arose.

Then Jeremy heard a voice, a familiar voice, the leader of this hidden trove of life: Xirin, “Little ones, come, reside beneath my wings, we will survive!”.

Jeremy heard a thud as he saw Wan’s uncle Chan hurriedly putting on a pair of trousers.

Almost tripping he came to the door, “Jeremy!”, he said, “Come! It is an alarm we need to flee to our refuge”.

Jeremy smirked inwardly at the dragon before him, despite the image of Dragons being invincible, invulnerable creatures; Chan was especially prone to mishaps, and very much vulnerable. Fortunately, at least Wan had received only a glancing blow of this trait; but they had firm hearts, and were very kind to him during this week of learning and leisure. Jeremy’s heart was wistful as he looked over the useless duo.

“I’m afraid I must go”, Jeremy said looking directly in Wan’s eyes.

“Why?! It is safer to stay here with us”, Wan challenged his declaration.

“Exactly”, Jeremy riposted, “How many times have they attacked here? From what you explained to me it has never happened. So why now? It is because of me. If I leave, I may draw their focus. Besides I have questions that need answers I need to go to that place Xirin mentioned, and I must leave now, even though I do not know the way”.

“WHY?! You will be killed! We will go with you!”, Wan invaded Jeremy’s personal space, grabbed his hands and looked up in his eyes.

With a sad gleam in his eyes, he shook his head, “No you must remain here. Be safe and live long”.

Jeremy tried removing his hands from hers, but still she clung to his as if she was clinging to the last hope, beyond a fools hope, “You saved us, you are our benefactor, that we cannot ignore. Like I said before favor is not forgotten in Draegoch. We will follow you anyways!”.

A sigh escaped his lips, images of Amy overlapped with Wan in front of him, and he could not refuse. Surprisingly her slender hands had strength that would not relinquish their grip no matter how hard he struggled.

“Fine, but you will probably die with me”, Jeremy said with a cold tone, hoping he could still dissuade them.

“Ahem…”, Wan coughed in the background, and bowed his head, “It is what you call forty kilometers from here. Although I know a path that will turn it into a one-day journey. You said you do not know the way. Allow us to lead you”.

“We must leave quickly! Maybe they don’t know about this place yet”, Jeremy said as he grabbed his sword.

They exited the home. Jeremy looked around him. Various races: elves, orcs, pixies, dwarves, and fairies passed by. He heard screams of fear in the distance, and the shuffling of bodies as they pressed down the slopes of the rock dwellings leading towards the giant tree that had sustained them for centuries. The light still shone from the life-giving tree; but gone was the peaceful atmosphere; the clamor seeming to dim the light emanating from it.

Quickly, they moved. Like fish breaking through the downstream current, they pressed in the opposite direction of the masses seeking refuge. The light behind Jeremy faded away as the darkness in front of him grew stronger.

Wan found a hewn passageway, he stopped for a moment, and glanced at Jeremy with a serious tense expression, “This is it, once we go through here, we may not be able to go back”.

From far up in the boundaries of this hidden valley, Jeremy turned from Chan’s gaze; he looked down at the procession of people below. The emerald green slopes, the large lake, this place had left an impression on him, it almost allowed him to forget the lifeless surface above. He was reluctant to leave. No sane person wants to face danger, to face death.

In the line he could see young ones being pulled or carried by their parents, with determination in his eyes he focused on Chan, “Regardless, we will go!”.

The foundations of the world shook again, as they left with not a look behind them taken. In the cold dark air, barely made visible with dwarven torches, all that could be heard was their breathing and their footsteps. The details of Wan ahead of him began to blur as the light diminished. She was around the same height as Amy, maybe a few inches taller. Her shapely form fit snuggly in her leather tunic fashioned from the beasts that inhabited the tree. He wasn’t scum, he would not dare cheat on Amy; especially after he sought her out to reconcile, and atone for his abandonment. Just because he was still committed, didn’t mean he was dead though. Wan would have definitely been seen as beauty on earth. Yet he was in a different world with no path leading home; and she had shown a kindness and warmth, that was very similar to Amy. The hope of returning being small had caused his feelings to become slightly conflicted. She had a very Asian like appearance. Although she looked like a young girl barely in her twenties, she was much older than Jeremy. And Chan was older than the oldest of Jeremy’s current living relatives. Jeremy shook his head in the growing dark. He needed to stay strong and not falter. If he gave in to this small temptation, he would lose hope of ever returning. He could not lose it. He owed Amy an apology.

Jeremy’s eyes widened, he had left in haste, completely forgetting his training to pack provisions.

As if reading his thoughts, Chan spoke from the front, as he shifted a pack he was carrying to a more comfortable position, “I packed a little bit, just in case. It’s not much but it should cover at least a week if we are careful. Plenty if we are able to return”.

Maybe the duo wasn’t so useless after all. Jeremy noticed that there was a sword on his belt. It wasn’t long like Jeremy’s greatsword, it was shorter. It was made to fight in small spaces. He pulled out a wand and gave it to Wan.

“This was your mother’s, my sister”, Chan said with a sad look, “it isn’t anything special, but with your abilities my dear niece it is enough”.

He turned back as they plunged into the pitch black of the bowels of this world. In silence, and under the cover of the ground above in darkness they travelled, twisting through the underbelly of Draegoch. This place: a forgotten land, a remnant of what once was, but is no longer. Jeremy’s mind wandered as his vision was closed, like a curtain being placed in front of him. He could almost feel the dark pressing upon his skin. The warmth he felt from his hand, was Wan as her slender fingers gripped his to lead him in the darkness. Thoughts came and went; with his sight cut off, it was like he was in his own world, populated only with his thoughts and flashes from his memory.

During his lessons with Wan, the tables were turned, the only magic he could use was a spell called muffle; thus, Wan had called him useless with a very satisfied grin. It was a spell that cut off any sounds he made. Rendering his passing in dark places like the moving of a shadow in the night. It wasn’t much but it was still useful. As a former special operations member, he would have greatly wished to have such an ability during his days of duty. Still, he wanted to learn more about magic, what it could do, what it couldn’t do. He desired to experience it himself, but the ancient tongue was too foreign, the sound strange in his mouth, too difficult for his tongue to shape the words. It was a spell that required no speech, merely an understanding of the original word of quiet and its many facets, also the capability to control what they translated as mana. It was a rudimentary ability that was known by all, but it had the potential to grow close to concealing one’s existence from the world.

After hours of walking, twisting, turning through the earth, the air became less stuffy. It was no longer hewn passageways, but paths through the craggy cavernous riddled rocks. Jeremy had loss his sense of time to the darkness, only to recall the two breaks they had before. It stuck out in his memory because it was the only times, they allowed light. It was possible for vampires, the emperors of dark spaces, to see in pitch black.

A rumble from above filtered through the stone. Clock, clack! Jeremy heard the loose stones, moved by the agitation, fall to the floor. In silence they continued, the tense expressions Jeremy was thankful he did not see.

Soon he heard a dripping sound. The air felt wet now. How expansive was the tunnel network the Draegun had built?

“We are under the dead lake of Calybria”, Chan said quietly, “We will come out in the keep”.

“How do you know of this?”, Wan asked with suspicion in her voice.

Chan replied, “Xirin divulged this way to me privately. She told me to help him, but not to tell anyone of this path. If the enemy ever found it, it would lead straight to our domain. I am prepared to die taking this knowledge with me, rather than give it up after hours of torture”.

“Is it likely that there will be anything there?”, Jeremy asked.

“Xirin said she doesn’t know when I asked her”, Jeremy could tell that Chan had stopped, “It is close to the Great White Duke’s castle, so there is a distinct possibility, but she said the chamber we are heading to was meant to remain hidden. However, there may be goblins there, for they too like to dwell beneath, and are quite skilled at excavation, and finding the hidden depths of the world”.

“It better be worth it”, Jeremy muttered to himself bitterly.

After a few more hours, Jeremy could finally see a faint lonely light. As they drew closer to it. The shape of Wan in front of him became more visible. Not once did she let go while they were traveling. She looked back with a face of fear and anxiousness barely visible now in the glow.

“A dwarven torch!”, Chan said.

“How was it still lit for so long?”, Jeremy asked.

Wan replied as she came nearer to it warming her frigid hands in front of the flame, “The flame of dwarven torches never die”.

“That’s kinda cool”, Jeremy opined out aloud.

Off a further distance another torch could be seen. But rather than encumber themselves with a torch magic could be used to light the walls of stone, so they passed by. The narrow pass became wider, more accommodating.

Soon they came to a wall lit by two torches on either side.

In the light now Jeremy could see Chan’s tired expression as he grunted, taking off his pack, and laying on the ground, “No, there is a way to get through, but I think it wise to rest here. Sleep then we can pass beyond the threshold”.

“Something like an enchanted door?”, Jeremy queried.

Chan nodded.

Jeremy was a soldier and was used to sleeping in the worst of conditions, and the military fostered an ability to fall asleep anywhere at any time. Yet still it was a while before Jeremy could close his eyes. With Chan snoring away he pondered the two of them. They had essentially forever left their home; they might come back for more supplies. But then they would leave once again for good. Jeremy knew it was too dangerous for them to stay. He felt guilty that he had dragged them here due to his helplessness. They were earnest good people, albeit a little odd, but they deserved to have a long happy peaceful life. Jeremy shook his head, dispelling such useless thoughts; he had a mission. He looked at Wan who was trying to pretend she was asleep.

“Pss”, Jeremy whispered.

Wan opened her eyes, already facing him, then pretended to yawn, “Yes”.

“Thank you!”, Jeremy uttered quietly as he gazed directly at her.

Wan turned over in embarrassment, “See I told you I’m not useless”.

Jeremy was silent, although with a smirk on his lips, he said “Be useful and go to sleep then”.

“Hmmph”, Wan snorted.

Jeremy heard movement, and the whispers of clothing moving. He stirred to see Chan standing with his pack slung over his shoulder, a grim expression on his face, “I’m ready”.

Wan was still sleeping blissfully unaware. Her belt on her sand colored tunic had loosened and a sliver of her skin and slim abdomen could be seen. Jeremy avoided looking at her form as he gently pressed her shoulder.

“Wake up sleepyhead”, Jeremy urged her to waken.

Wan smacked her lips, her black hair was tangled as she rose. She stood up, straightened her garments, and gave look that said, don’t make me punch you.

Chan turned to the door, placed his hands on the wall, and began to chant. The space around them seemed to reverberate the words Chan spoke. Then the sound of a heavy boulder shifting whispered in a deep pitch.

The wall had transformed into a large stone door, that opened easily.

But surprise was on their faces, as they saw the surprise on the goblins face. Twelve in total surrounding a campfire, gnawed bones littering the floor. Jeremy shot forward like a lump of lead leaving a hot gun barrel.