While Gaftiel walked over to a table outside of the storytelling circle to get some drink, the hall gained some life, as quite a few people started to discuss the Wizard’s story up to that point.

  “Sir, what could be hiding in those depths? I only heard about a few monstrosities that fear the sunlight, and all of them would probably rather hide in castles and cities than stay in the caves…” Sqarie of Altarius, a Valiant Knight, asked his master.

  “The oldest and most powerful of night creatures oftentimes avoid civilisation and stay hidden, even if that means staying deep in caves. It's something about retiring to their rightful place, or not being able to stand the sight of creatures so weak ruling the world. Ancient cowards, I say.” Altarius responded, with his usual prideful demeanour. Despite sitting on a wide coach, he seemed to do so elegantly, to a suspicious level.

  “That’s myths and legends, Knight. Night creatures such as vampires long have none of their elders around, they either left our lands or were slain by the heroes of the past. And even if they still roamed these lands, Wizards such as Gaftiel would not stray from slaying such evil, which I bet is what he will do with his Witch companion later in the story. Though, I really doubt that the monsters will be of the old sort.” Sekta, the Witch-Sister interjected into the master-squaire conversation. Her and her sister’s couch was very near to the one occupied by the Knight, and the chair on which his student sat.

  “Not to question your intelligence, lass, but haven’t you been under official tutelage only for two years? I can’t stop myself from putting my knowledge above yours, seeing as inexperienced you are.” The knight replied sharply, staring into the girl’s eyes.

  “Not to question your comprehension skills, knight, but have you ever had formal education in the field of magical history? I can’t stop myself from trusting myself more than you.” The Witch retorted. She looked at the knight with a clear scowl, as if mocking him and whatever knowledge he may have.

  Breaking the staredown between her sister and the knight, whose sword rested on the couch’s back, Ekta laughed lightly and said: “Ha ha, let’s not jump at each other’s throats, please… Also, I have a better question – mainly, how is he not freezing there in the deep? Every time I entered a cave, I needed to bring an additional coat, he didn’t talk about that at all…”

  This time, both Sekta and Altarius turned in one direction, both amused by the question, an answer to which they both considered the obvious.

  “Winter above, in Far-Garrad, is very cold – which I believe Gaftel explained quite well. You probably think that the caves would be colder than the outside, but that’s not necessarily the case. So much rock keeps the temperature somewhat consistent during the year, meaning that while it may be colder as well as hotter in there, than on the outside in winter, it’s probably not a big difference. Also, no wind makes the cold much more comfortable.” Sekta explained to her sister, calmly and patiently, with a motherly attitude, as if she had done that hundreds of times before.

  Knight nodded, once again looking as if the answer was obvious. Ekta on the other hand, seeing that even the squire looked as if he knew that already, blushed and turned away from the previously arguing pair.

  Soon after, Gaftel returned with a mug full of wine in hand. The hall quieted, and waited in silence for the continuation of the story – Archmage, in particular, could barely stay seated in anticipation. Ekta on the other hand, didn’t even need to quiet down.

  Aurila started off by asking me why I was there, she was suspicious and I get that – it’s weird to meet in such a place. She calmed down a bit though, after I told her about the job I received from Count Sardoix. Apparently, searching for “Starfish Blue” was a very non-suspicious reason, and she even admitted that searching for it was her reason to come to Far-Garrad too. She called it “The biggest trend in alchemical circles since the discovery of blood-pressure-increasing properties of orc tusks”.

  The fire cage disappeared as soon as I stopped concentrating on it, Aurila then walked back to where she sat before and picked up some things that fell off of her while she dashed around the cave.

  One of the things that were left on the floor was an intricate twig-like tick, broken in the middle. I was right assuming she broke her focus. I asked her about it, and it seemed she cracked her wand while falling down the hole, into one of the bone-filled caves.

  She, unlike me, didn’t get many bruises in the fall through – the most pressing matter concerning her in the depths was food, as she was stuck there for about four days. Water wasn’t that hard to get, but eating moss was not exactly the most desirable outcome.

  After hearing about her

  arrival at the caves, I asked her about the deep darkness and the door, which stood next to us. Aurila too, went to the dark depths previously, but she didn’t go as far as I did and ran away much faster – understandably so, her focus was broken after all. As for the door, she told me some dwarves came to these caves sometime after the traps activated – for that were all these vertical tunnels that connected the outside world and the bone-filled caves – and collected what was caught, leaving the unnecessary parts in the caverns.

  She met them once, sometime after she fell, they came and were horribly disappointed that their traps caught a human. – Contrary to popular belief, despite their apprehension, they don’t take pleasure in killing humans, nor do they eat us. – As she said, they hoped for a hare or some other animal thriving above the fissures.

  What concerned me though, is the fact that she was still there, in the cave, despite having met the inhabitants of this place and talked to them. She told me they didn’t even entertain the thought of letting her into their underground kingdom, even if only to find steps leading to the surface. They left here before the stone door, where she stayed since.

  I couldn’t believe that, so, I decided that we would wait until the dwarves came to check the trap I activated, and asked her if she could take care of my wounds in the meantime. She agreed, of course.

  We spent some time in the circular cave, there, she told me about her journey here, which was very similar to mine, but lacking a horse – for some, still not understood by me, reason. She also bragged about her progress in spell-crafting. Her spell, prepared for our upcoming confrontation during the next annual meeting, was already nearly finished at the time, according to her. Mine, on the other hand, was only a vague concept.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  After some time, we both tensed, hearing steps in the deep behind the stone-hugging door. Far beyond its defences, someone laughed out loud, in response to a joke said in the rough tongue of the dwarves.

  That was the time, when I realised that I knew only the basics of their language, barely scraping to pass on the tests. Even now, when I have looked into it more, I can barely communicate in common matters such as asking for directions and introducing myself. So, I had to ask Aurila to be my translator.

  Soon, the door flashed in dim, white light, and slowly started to open. It seemed the dwarves activated the enchantments, as I couldn’t believe someone could move such a door – as it opened, I could see it was at least one and a half metres thick. It must have weighed more than a tonne, or two.

  Two dwarves entered, both guys with long beards and hair reaching about the same length, with metal armour and axes in hand. Obviously, they were considerably smaller than me, maybe to around the middle of my torso? And let me tell you, they were not happy to see me.

  Even without knowing any dwarvish, I could discern that the series of clanky, rough sounds they let out of their mouths were all curses, most probably directed at me and Aurila. Before the Witch could talk, they turned to each other and exchanged a few words, afterwards, they stepped back towards the door.

  Aurila stopped them though, bringing their attention to her by stomping her foot on the stone ground and letting out a frustrated line of words, the meaning of which I obviously didn’t understand.

  The two dwarves gave her a few moments of attention, before waving at as dismissively and hiding behind the door once again. The door was slammed shut, and were left alone.

  What happened next is not something that I like to bring up, as we both fell into some kind of depressed state in which none of us spoke. Neither did we think about what to do to get out of the predicament.

  In the meantime, my shallow wounds clotted, and the bruises stopped to burn.

  Slowly, as the light coming from the tunnels – where the caves became ravines and reached the surface – dimmed, we broke out of our stupor and considered our options.

  Aurila stayed there for the night before, and nothing happened, as such, we assumed that the creatures from the deep didn’t want to attack humans, or couldn’t cross into the dwarven passages. We could risk wandering into the darkness.

  We could also try to climb the stone walls of the fissure, but neither of us had any climbing experience outside of trees and the risk of falling down deterred us from that route effectively.

  Lastly, we could try to force our way through the dwarven territory. But breaking the stone door would have been a problem, and might have drained our reserves leaving us too tired to fight with the bearded rocks. It was not ideal in any way, and probably the least safe of the three.

  Eventually, we decided to go through the darkness. There were two of us this time, unlike when we ventured there alone.

  “The walk to the surface was terrifying, and I still have nightmares about it to this day. As we ascended, we fought a few creatures – as some of you speculated when I was getting a drink. But none of you managed to guess what we fought, and unfortunately, neither can I…

  The only thing I, and Aurila of Bulrush managed to determine about them is that those were Demons. Demons of unknown rank and type, whose images got erased from our memories shortly after we left the tunnels.” Gaftiel explained, his face almost white. Commonly, between words he took a sip from his mug as if to keep himself going.

  “Demons you say? Are you sure? Why haven’t I heard about them already?” The Archmage rose from his sofa, furious that such a thing was not reported to him.

  Gaftiel, while the whole hall remained silent, turned towards his senior – and after some colour returned to his face, explained without any towards the Archmage: “We decided to keep the information to ourselves until we were ready to launch an expedition to Far-Garrad. And now, we are ready.”

  The Wandering Wizard rose from his seat, and announced to the whole hall, but mostly to the mages and knights sitting around him: “In two months, I, Gaftiel the Wandering Wizard, and Aurila of Bulrush will be organising an expedition to the caves below Far-Garrad! You are all invited, lest you stay under our leadership, just as any mage or warrior in the realm that hears the news!”

  Before the crow could answer, he followed up: “Don’t you dare to go there alone! We two are the only ones who have experience in the fissures, which are far more dangerous than what I portrayed in my story.” As he threatened, he parted his robes, showing a huge scar going from his right hip to his neck. Around it, burn marks and numerous smaller scars.

  “Lad! Nice marking you got there! Fancy telling me if they reach the bones? That's the exciting stuff!” The Lich shouted from above, his face – despite lack of flesh – clearly displayed his mocking excitement.

  “Silence!” Kairon shouted mightily, once more closing the mouths of those who dared to gossip, and locking the air around the ceiling corpse. “You, Corpse, shut your mouth till I allow you to speak.” He then turned towards Gaftiel “Believe me when I tell you that I will, punish both you and your witch friend. You have failed to execute your duty and endangered the land with your irresponsible behaviour. I won’t disband your expedition though – but be sure, you two will not be the ones to lead it. I will.” Archmage Kairon finally stopped shouting and started to slow down his breathing. The hall was quiet, and even the standby’s lowered their heads in a baffling display. A knight covered before the Archmage’s rage, not to mention Gaftiel, whose previous confidence crumbled and flew out of the window.

  “But, before I let the spell deceit whether your story was worthwhile, do tell – did you win the competition against Miss Aurila?” Archamge’s attitude did a 180-degree turn, from an embodiment of fury to a calm middle-aged man, who cared about nothing else than to satisfy his curiosity.

  “I… - I did…” Gaftiel responded weakly, before going back between the couches, to hide between other wizards and witches who listened to his story attentively just moments ago.

  Archmage nodded, content – then closed his eyes and reached out before himself.

  The air rippled, invisible power spreading through the hall, enveloping each mind, each body, every piece of furniture and every piece of dust that fell from the chandeliers, hooked high above, next to an ageless corpse. The magic fizzled, as if about the tear a rip in reality before settling down, back to the invisible, incomprehensible state it waited in.

  Wizards, Witches, and every person at least bit sensitive to arcane grabbed their heads in pain – apart from Archmage and his Disciple.

  Suddenly, another, short wave spread outwards of the Arch Wizard, and the tip of his hand started to glow green.

  “The story has been confirmed as true.” Fierd the Apprentice announced.

  “What about the ranking, was it good?” Some merchant, who felt not the effects of the spell, asked.

  “That will be decided at the end. We must first hear all the other stories.” The Apprentice responded, before nodding at the next person to sit in the Storyteller’s Chair.

  Was it fun? Entertaining?