Chapter 70: The Survivors

Alcar’s leap across the bridge stalled as the green hand emerged from the river and grasped his ankle. A moment later, he found himself splashing down into the water, clutching desperately at the other side of the broken wooden structure as he was unexpectedly pulled downwards.

Brutus then leaped right across the river with minimal effort; once on the other side, the dog grasped at the sleeve of his master’s robes, helping Alcar to avoid being pulled entirely beneath the river’s surface.

Alcar, meanwhile, was unable to reach for a weapon lest he be swept away by the river. Instead, he began to kick at whatever was holding him. If only he could dislodge the orc or goblin, he thought, it would surely be swept away in the current, allowing him to climb clear.

But he was shocked to hear the owner of the green hand speak his name:

“Alcar – stop kicking me!”

Alcar stopped thrashing around and turned his head, wondering what dark enchantment had caused a monster of the deep to learn his name.

Perhaps this truly was the end...

But when he looked down over his shoulder, he saw a familiar face: Ubund, the guide. The vep-te man had now grabbed hold of Alcar’s torn robes as well as his ankle, and now proceeded to grab the sorcerer’s belt as he continued to pull himself up and out of the water.

“Just stay there, so I can climb,” growled Ubund, continuing to clamber up across the sorcerer.

A few seconds later, both adventurers stood dripping on the opposite bank of the underground river, staring at each other.

“You could have pulled me under and drowned me,” said Alcar hotly.

“That is a possibility,” replied Ubund calmly.

“You...” Alcar’s fell silent and took a deep breath. His annoyance at being grappled from the direction of the river was quickly giving way to relief at the sight of a familiar face after having descended so deep into the unfamiliar tunnels.

What’s more, a guide – someone who might be able to lead him out.

“Man, I am pretty glad to see you,” he said at last, stepping towards Ubund with arms outstretched.

Ubund, however, pulled a shortsword from his hip, and held up the other hand to block Alcar. “Work to do still.”

“Right, okay. I know, man, it’s fucking dangerous down here. Undead and all sorts. How did you get away from the troll, anyway?”

“A struggle,” said Ubund simply, looking to one side and nodding. He then patted his composite bow, which was looped across his shoulder as usual. “Managed to keep most of my weapons. Eight arrows still. I see you have more.”

Alcar nodded. “You... you did really well to survive.”

There was a fraction of a shrug from the guide. “I am not happy at all,” he said.

Alcar wondered how much this referred to his own engulfing of the troll in flames just as it had picked up the vep-te guide. “Well, I’m sorry for how it...”

“This way,” interrupted Ubund, turning and striding without hesitation towards the leftmost of the three openings in the cave wall ahead.

Alcar began to follow, and then paused near the middle one, glancing in. “Wait – shouldn’t we at least check these others, dude? There could be treasure or someth...”

“This way.”

With a glare in the direction of the guide, Alcar hurried after, Brutus at his hip, and followed Ubund through into a narrow passageway that began to curve and rise upwards. “Damn, I am soaked,” he muttered, as he came to the guide’s shoulder once again.

And he really was; his lower half had been immersed in the river, and his upper half had been drenched by a mixture of sweat and the spray from his waterskin.

Ubund gave a brief glance in Alcar’s direction. “Soaked?” he repeated.

“Uh, yeah... But hey, what about you? How long were you actually in that river? I thought you must have drowned.”

“A long swim,” said Ubund, looking ahead and nodded. “My people, the vep-te, we can hold our breath for a long time. All the same, it was a difficult encounter.”

“Okay. Right. That’s... unusually informative,” replied Alcar.

“Hmm.”

They walked on in silence as the passageway continued to spiral upwards, and Alcar wondered if there were any possible topics of conversations, any shared interests, that he could bring up to pass the time.

“Leppie will be pleased to see you, I think,” he said at last.

Ubund looked the sorcerer’s apprentice fully in the eye for the first time since clambering from the river. “Dagmir van Lepp?”

“Yeah, yeah. We call her ‘Leppie’, you see. Based on her last name.”

“Dagmir van Lepp.”

“Right. Well, whatever works for you, man.”

They walked on, finally reaching a T-junction. Once again, Ubund led the way without hesitation, this time turning to the right.

“I guess you know the way out,” said Alcar. “We must be really deep underground.”

Ubund sniffed, pausing just a few yards from another archway. “Not so much as you might think. You’ll see.”

“So, are we anywhere near the rift valley?”

This time Ubund smiled. “We are already in it.”

Alcar’s eyes widened. “Huh! That’s amazing, man. If we can just find our way back to the trail, then, we...”

But once again, Ubund interrupted him, this time by holding up one finger in front of the sorcerer’s face to indicate silence. Ubund stood listening for a moment, and then pulled his bow clear and nocked an arrow. “Be ready,” he growled, and then stepped towards the archway.

Alcar put one hand on Brutus’s head, and nodded, waiting silently.