4

Adamantite

"You're going through?" Oydd asked, a hint of protest in his tone.

Licephus placed the spired helm on his head, and loosed the adamantine Cutlass from his back. He rested a gauntleted hand against the surface of the portal and the image sparked and whirled. Then he stepped through.

Oydd reached after him and sputtered.

"I have to go last," the druid said. The rock worm crawled lazily around the back of his neck. "Once I step through, the gate will close."

Oydd turned to Cricket. "Go ahead."

"Oh, no! I'm watching to see if you melt first."

"Hilarious." The rudra rolled his eyes. He knit his brow in thought and eventually settled on sending Skunk through next.

The image in the magic circle wrapped around Skunk like water and the surface rippled. As it began to calm, Cricket saw the mutant's distorted form on the far side standing next to the vampire.

Cricket frowned. "You shouldn't use him."

The rudra stared at him, perplexed, as he hesitantly inched toward the portal.

"I wouldn't expect you to be afraid of magic," the insect stated, matter-of-factly.

"When I am in control of the spell? Certainly not." The rudra placed a hand against the surface, as Licephus had done, then took a deep breath and crossed the threshold.

Cricket ran and jumped in, coming through the far side a bit too fast, and nearly crashed into a wall.

"Ah! Ow... ow... ow... It's so hot! Cricket hopped around on one foot for a few seconds then switched to the other.

"Calm down," the rudra scolded him. "It's not that bad."

Cricket turned to see the druid emerging from the portal. The magical door began to shrink and fade behind him. "Do you need a protective grace?" he offered the insect.

"Um..." Cricket looked down at Oydd's feet. The rudra's soft leather boots looked thinner than his own carapace. "No... I'm good," Cricket said stiffly. He began to walk with slow, exaggerated steps, then turned and headed back the other way. "See... no problem."

Jeshu held out a hand and touched the insect's shell. The tips of his fingers glowed red and Cricket felt a warmth spread through his whole body.

"No! Don't make me hotter!"

"Do your feet still hurt?"

"Oh..." Cricket looked down and lifted a foot to inspect the bottom. "That... feels so much better. Thank you."

"No problem," the druid replied.

Cricket began to survey his surroundings. The group had crossed into a small dark cave. Behind him, the tunnel compressed to a width that only the mouseling could explore. Ahead, he saw a faint red light around the corner.

"Where are we?" the insect asked.

The vampire held up a hand to decree silence. He tilted his head, as if listening to a distant sound with his pointed ears. Licephus walked forward cautiously, and indicated a spot near the ceiling, where one of the mud-covered hovered silently.

Licephus ignored it, rounding the corner, and the others followed. A second sphere drifted along the wall toward a set of iron bars. Once it reached them, the tiny bulb pressed against the bars and squeezed itself through with a sloshing sound, then clumsily floated away.

"We are in a cell," the vampire answered at last. "This is going to be loud."

The vampire gripped the heavy cutlass in both hands and swung. The adamantite sunk deep into the iron, making a groove across three of the bars. He leveraged the weapon free and swung again, lower, making another deep groove, as the distressed calls of deep goblins echoed from an unseen room in the distance.

Licephus lifted his boot and stomped one of the bars free. The metal clattered to the stone floor and slid across the hallway, hitting into the far wall.

Two goblin guards appeared from around the bend. One wielded a fine, black spear and armor that matched his horns, embellished with red paint that matched his skin. The second goblin readied a crossbow.

Seeing the vampire, the spearman charged and stabbed through the bars.

Licephus took a step back and swung his sword through the empty air, magically connecting with the goblin. However, the blow only bounced from its armor, knocking it back an inch.

Licephus swung again, much harder. The blow connected solidly with the creature and knocked him from his feet, but again failed to penetrate the black metal.

"What is this?" Licephus cursed.

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"Hit inside of his armor!" Cricket suggested.

"Brilliant," the vampire chided. "Is that how you use your weapons? Just start from inside?"

Cricket's expression sunk at the biting remark. He reached into his bag for a shuriken, just as the rear goblin lifted his crossbow. Licephus raised his sword to cover the eye-slit in his helm.

Cricket squealed and hid behind Oydd.

Panicked, the rudra raised both arms before his eyes and the bolt fired. The bracer on his wrist flashed a dark green. The bolt swerved violently and stuck to the enchanted bracer like iron pulled to a magnet. The rudra shrieked, gasping, and tried to recover his breath.

"Oh..." he said, in shock, staring at the magical green gem on his wrist. He whirled on the insect. "What was that!"

"I, uh..."

The rudra whacked him on the side of his head with his metal staff, bending one of Cricket's antennae.

"Ow!" The insect wailed. "It's okay. You had your bracelet."

"Bracer," Oydd corrected. "And I don't think you remembered that!" The rudra lifted his staff to strike Cricket again, but the insect ran and hid behind Jeshu.

"Is that your new strategy?" the infuriated rudra hissed. He circled around the druid and Cricket retreated into the back tunnel.

The crossbowman pulled a cocking lever from his belt and began to set another bolt.

The spearman stabbed again at Licephus, but he let the blow bounce from his armor, then caught the shaft with his hand and yanked.

The goblin, fearing it might lose its weapon, held tight with both hands as the vampire pulled. One of its arms slipped into the cell, and its shoulder wedged between the bars.

Licephus reached for its exposed throat, and the goblin finally dropped the spear and ran.

The vampire tossed the spear aside and kicked a second bar free, just as the remaining goblin finished readying his crossbow.

Seeing the vampire take cover again behind his broad weapon, the goblin aimed instead for Skunk. It fired, and the bolt bored into the mutant's chest, clear to the nock. A bit of thick black blood dripped from the puncture. But Skunk only stared back impassively.

Licephus stepped through the opening he had made and the remaining goblin ran as well. The vampire swung his blade through the air half-heartedly, cutting the creature in half, from its shoulder to the opposite hip.

"Hurry!" Licephus shouted back into the cell. Cricket reappeared from the back tunnel with a prominent welt on his head, as well as several scrapes and scuffs on his forearm.

The insect ducked through the opening in the bars, followed by the druid.

Oydd appeared, seething, but exited before Skunk. Not being summoned, the mutant teetered silently until the others had made some distance, then haltingly emerged from the cell.

Cricket nearly caught up with the last deep goblin, and drew a sickle, but the rudra's voice called from behind him. "Leave this one whole."

The insect hesitated, and the panicked goblin tried to duck into a side tunnel, but Jeshu reached out a hand, and the rock walls began to grow and seal ahead of it.

The goblin hissed and turned to face the group as vines of rock spurted from the ground, wrapping around the hapless creature's feet. By the time it noticed the sprouting rock, the vines held its feet firm. They slowly crept along the goblin's chest, wrapping finally around its neck and over its head.

Oydd approached the immobilized goblin and placed a hand on its face. The goblin gnashed and managed to grab the rudra's wrist with one of its arms. It dug its claws deep into the rudra's flesh, but the necromancer ignored it.

"Aresce!" He spoke a word of magic, then added, "Die, whelp."

The goblin resisted, but Oydd held its head firm as it squirmed. A thin line of blood trickled from its ears, and a rust-like film dripped from its tear ducts and nostrils. When the creature ceased its struggling, the rudra turned his palm up toward the ceiling, and stared intently into its black eyes. Slowly, they began to glow —not green, but a black, withering light.

"Release him," the rudra commanded, and the rock vines slowly receded, freeing the new ghoul.

"Oh, he is pissed!" Cricket whispered to Jeshu.

The rudra glared at him.

"Use it Oydd," he said sheepishly. "Use your anger!"

"Let me heal you." The druid reached out for the bump on Cricket's head.

"Can you? The shell is damaged."

"Let me try." Jeshu closed his eyes and sighed with heavy concentration. Slowly the shell grew on the broken antenna, knitting roughly back together. After a minute the druid stopped. "It's not perfect. But I think that's all I can do."

"Thanks, Jesh," Cricket responded quietly.

Licephus studied the ghoul while Skunk returned to retrieve the goblin's spear.

At length, the vampire spoke. "It's adamantite. The spear and the armor. How did deep goblins get ahold of adamantine armor?"

"Raiding the dhampiri?" Cricket hazarded a guess.

"And they found a set perfectly tailored to a deep goblin? With a helmet that fit its horns?"

Cricket fell silent.

The vampire held his own sword aloft. "And this came from Agoth as well. It makes no sense."

"It means the Right Hand cultists have a forgemaster," Oydd replied.

"A very skilled artificer," Licephus agreed.

Seeing Cricket's dumbfounded look, the rudra explained. "Not just a blacksmith, like Bird. But an exceptional blacksmith who practices the arcane arts... beyond my ability as well."

"And he's making invincible weapons?" Cricket asked.

"Evidently," Licephus answered.

Jeshu patted Orth absently and the worm cooed. "What sort of forge would that take?"

"I don't know," Oydd admitted, looking to the vampire.

"Nor do I. But I believe the dhampiri would notice such an operation were it nearby. The heat alone from an adamantite forge would not go unnoticed, to say nothing for the incredible release of magical energy. Hence, the ties to Agoth."

"They're making weapons down here?" Jesh asked. "How many? You're talking like it's large scale."

"Because they've armed a goblin," Oydd answered. "That seems a low priority. We should assume the leaders are armed to the teeth in adamantite."

Licephus nodded in agreement. "It is troubling."

"Well. Maybe the forge is nearby," Cricket ventured. "Let's see how deep this hole goes."

Licephus smiled. "Yes, let's." The vampire peered through the thin gap where the druid had nearly sealed the tunnel closed. "Let's leave this tunnel for later. If anyone is back there, we'll assume they are trapped." Without a backward glance, he began down one of two remaining tunnels.