Days passed, as the troop slowly worked their way deeper into the mine. Ronin and Elyria didn’t speak about their encounter from the first day, but there was no denying they’d grown closer afterwards. The elf followed Karr’s orders, flying the length of the procession whenever there was room to do so, but when the passages narrowed down too much for flight, she always walked beside Ronin and Jaya.
“Just how deep is this mine?” She asked, on the third or fourth day in the tunnels. “The Undercity was only two days travel from the valley. Why is this so much further down?” They’d entered a tight area and had to walk in single file. Elyria walked in front of Ronin, who walked in front of Jaya. He’d tried to take the back spot, but his silent companion had adamantly refused.
“Back in our valley I’d scooped half the mountain away to make room for the Mountain’s embrace kingdom.” Ronin said, having taken the fabricator off his back so he could push it in front of him through the tight passageway. The nine-foot-tall, armored suit wasn’t handling the tight confines well, since there was no give or flex to the plates, he couldn’t ‘suck it in,’ so to speak when there was a narrow patch. “I wanted my starting location to be completely land and water locked, until I got my feet wet doing easy adventures. I looked at the map a little while ago though, and I think we must be getting close to where our original mine started. So, maybe a few more days?”
“I’m starting to wish I stayed on the ship.” Elyria said looking around the small, cramped confines of the tunnel. “I’m an elf you know, not a goblin or a bugbear. I wasn’t built for tunnels like this.”
“Stop whining,” Ronin said with a snort. “At least you don’t have to wear this clunky, unresponsive, heat retaining, suit and carry a mountain of gear. Heck, you aren’t even carrying your bag, you gave that to me a day ago and never took it back.” Ronin said, remembering the bag for the first time since she’d handed it to him. It was so light in the armor he had forgotten he had the thing, but it was the principle that mattered.
“Don’t complain, I’ve been flying around in these narrow caves, trying to watch over everyone for most of the trip. Do you know how hard it is to keep my wings from hitting the rock walls? Want me to break a wing down here?” She said, completely disregarding his words. “But what about the suits, how are you doing on charge? I know the batteries in those things are good, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
Ronin concentrated on the tunnel, until he’d cleared the narrow opening, before he checked the digital readout inside his helmet. There wasn’t much information in there, compared to his cybernetic vision in his pocket world it was downright sparse. It did show a percent gage with his suit’s battery life though. As well as the figure of a suit, front and back, glowing with soft LED’s. Both images glowed a soft green but would turn yellow in any place his suit was lightly damaged, orange for moderate damage, or red for critical damage. Thankfully, the soft green indicated his suit was in perfect shape.
“Readout says I’m at 87% battery life. So, unless we have to go for another week down here, we should be ok. Besides, we packed enough batteries to recharge all the suits at least two times each.” They’d been chatting like that, on and off for a few hours, when the tunnel finally opened up again, and they found the rest of the group had gathered together to wait for them.
“We have a decision to make,” Karr said, pointing at the tablet in his hand. “Stone, Whisper, and Dandelion have been scouting, while Doctor Mycroft operated the drones for us. Up until now, there has only been one clear path. But now, we have two choices, and I don’t know which one we should take.”
Ronin bent over the map, taking a look at the images, and the video the drones had captured. There were indeed two paths forward. One, very much like what they’d just gone through, was a long and winding tunnel with several tight spots. So tight in some places that they might have to widen the path for the suits to get through or take them apart and assemble them again on the other side. That would take several hours and leave them tired and undefended while they dragged the heavy equipment. The other path was more like a vertical shaft that dropped straight down for five or six hundred yards. There were a few tight spots on that climb too, and a fall from that height would easily kill or cripple whoever fell.
“What does the bottom of the shaft look like?” Ronin asked, frowning down at the screen. “Is there an open path for us if we go that way?” He was torn between the two options since he had no desire to force his way through those tight tunnels any longer than he had too. On the other hand, Jackson, Knuckles, Doc, and Locke would have a tough time with the climb down.
“There is,” Karr said with a nod. “We have been going over the footage for almost an hour, while we waited for you to catch up. It looks like the narrow tunnel actually connects with the bottom of the shaft. So, either way, we’ll end up in the same place,” the sergeant said with a shrug. “I wasn’t sure what to do, so we waited for you to make the call, my lord.” Ronin frowned inside his helmet, annoyed that he’d been put on the spot like this. Couldn’t they have called him on the comm, to give him a little warning first.
“How do you feel about the climb, Doctor?” He asked the woman, who hadn’t made her body much stronger than a human, if you didn’t include the four extra tentacle arms she had sprouting from her back anyway. He supposed that would actually make climbing easier for her, since she would have six hands to hold onto the walls with, maybe he should have asked Jackson… Nah.
“I would be ok with the climb, but I’m worried about Jackson and Knuckles. Not to mention the gryphons. They are agile, but scaling vertical walls might be asking a little much of them.” Dang, Ronin sighed internally. If it had been just the gangsters who would suffer, he would have just strapped them to an Exo-suit and given them a ride down, but the gryphons were far too big for that to work on them.
“Ok,” he said at last, wishing he could run his fingers through his hair to relieve the stress of command, but not being able too, thanks to the suit. “The suits will climb down the shaft, taking the heavy equipment with us. The gryphons, Knuckles and Jackson, and whoever else doesn’t want to make the climb, can take the tunnels. The tight spaces should be easier to navigate without the heavy equipment, and we can shut the suits down to charge for a few hours while we wait for you to catch up. I don’t want to let the batteries drop too low, just in case.” He grinned to himself, remembering a time when topping off his rifle was too much of a hassle. How things had changed since then.
“Understood my lord,” Karr said taking the reins back now the decision had been made. “Stone, Whisper you two go ahead with the gryphons and the gangsters. Dandelion, you stay here and play rear guard. If someone tries to sneak up on us, I want you to give us a warning. Jaya, you take the…” Nodding, Ronin listened to the orders flow smoothly from Karr’s mouth. If the man wasn’t so averse to making decisions, he’d be an unstoppable leader. Still, once a decision had been made, he would take the ball and run with it, however far he had to.
In only a few minutes, Ronin found himself slowly climbing down the vertical shaft. His suit loaded down with extra gear. He couldn’t feel it there, but he still had to be careful. If the stuff swayed too much, the motion could pull him off the wall, from momentum alone. Once again, Jaya hadn’t let him go first. Stopping him with an outstretched hand as she climbed into the shaft before him. Ronin wasn’t sure what she thought she was saving him from. If he fell it would just mean both of their deaths. Unless she was worried about falling. In that case, if she was on the bottom, she wouldn’t take him down with her.
Ronin sighed as he slowly descended the wall. Longing again to go on adventures with a small team. Not these life-or-death missions in a military group, but a small team, who’s greatest ambition was to travel around, looking for clues to find the next bad guy or treasure. His mind wandered off on another daydream as he climbed. Wondering who he’d bring with him, K3 and Elyria were a given. That made him smile, how quickly his thoughts had jumped to the elf. They felt things for each other, they had admitted that much to themselves, but would that be enough, considering the baggage they carried, and the mission they were on? Ronin supposed only time would tell, since neither of them were emotionally stable enough for anything more than what they were already doing.
Shaking away the thought, Ronin mused about who his traveling companions would be. He debated on Guts and Owl Five, but they’d likely been married for years now. He couldn’t bring himself to take them away on adventure, even in his mind. Lily, for the same reason. She would have long given birth to their child. So, she would likely not want to go adventuring. Ronin sighed again, he’d asked Dandelion and the other members of yokai team 01 for information about home, but they’d each refused to tell him anything. Stating only that Owl Two told them not to distract their lord from the mission. They would tell him if he insisted, they’d said, but it would have a negative impact on his ability to focus.
Ronin didn’t know if he believed that. Could anything be more distracting than wondering about what they wouldn’t tell him? In either case, he crossed Lily off his imaginary list as well. Owl Two was an option, but he had a pivotal role in leading the syndicate. Maybe Xerox then, he liked the fact he could read emotion in the non-android’s voice. Ok so that made himself, K3, Elyria, and Xerox, but he wanted at least two more.
His hand closed a little too tightly on a stone, causing it to crumble. He didn’t slip, but he did bring himself back to the present a little bit more at that chilling thought… Staz was the obvious choice. He didn’t think the ogre mage, or oni as he named his race, would have put down roots in ten years. He got the feeling the giant was a free spirit, like himself. Nodding, he added the oni to his list of teammates.
Try as he might though, he just couldn’t think of a sixth member he wanted to bring along for companionship’s sake, who wasn’t required elsewhere… Maybe Whisper or Stone, since Hunter wasn’t able to leave the Undercity, or Dandelion. Perhaps even Unyielding Oak might want to go see the world, now that her people were safe… he’d have to think about that some more. He felt his foot thump down hard, and to his shock, realized he’d reached the bottom of the shaft. Clearing his throat, he stepped away from the wall, leaving room for the four Exo-suits following him down.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Went away on a mental journey again, didn’t ya?” Elyria asked with a smirk, from where she sat on a stone, already having descended the shaft. K3 stood beside her, with his helmet off, he grinned at Ronin like he knew something he shouldn’t.
“Just dreaming of adventure,” Ronin said honestly. "I want to risk my life to steal a dragon’s hoard, not for the fate of humanity. It’s a lot of pressure you know. If we aren’t able to get the ship running, we’re going to be stuck here when the lizards come. Give me a dragon any day over that.”
“I think that can be arranged,” said an unfamiliar voice from the darkness. It was accompanied by a roar so loud; dust shook itself free of the stones and drifted down onto their heads. By the time it had fallen, Ronin’s entire troop was up and pointing their weapons at the newcomer. A man in a loose-fitting martial arts gi, sitting on the back of an enormous, Chinese flood dragon. Surrounded by men in lamellar armor, wielding heavy rifles. “I’d appreciate it, if you put your weapons down.” The man said through a mask that resembled a black dragon’s face. “It would be a shame if we had to hurt your companions. Who were extremely easy to capture once they entered the narrows…” he trailed off, suggestively and Ronin had to move in front of a now snarling Leo, to prevent the man from doing anything hasty.
“What did you do to Red, Aurex?” The lionid asked, letting out a roar of his own, that wasn’t much weaker than the dragon’s.
“Leo, calm down.” Ronin said, frantically trying to keep the lionid back. He wouldn’t have physically restrained him, if he hadn’t been wearing the armored suit, too afraid the man would claw him apart trying to get at his enemy. As it was, he managed to get an arm around the lionid’s waist, then pointed the gatling gun at Aurex with the other. He didn’t care how big that dragon was, if he pumped a few thousand .25 rounds into it at this range, it was going to die.
“I think we all need to calm down,” Elyria said stepping forward to place herself between them. “Listen, I’m not sure why you’re here, but we don’t want any trouble from you. We’re here looking for something time forgot on your planet. I know you know the lizards are coming, so let’s not fight each other, ok? Let’s just go our separate ways and save our strength for the true enemy.”
Her words went unheeded by either Leo or Aurex, though Ronin thought she had a good point. How had they managed to find themselves face to face with Aurex, Fabius’s son, of all people? Not to mention all the men around him. Most of them were crystalized, but a few wore breathing masks, indicating they were natural humans.
“I agree with the… winged elf?” A wizened voice said from behind the group of armed men. They responded instantly, putting their rifles up and stepping to the side, as an old Chinese man in grey Daoist robes slowly walked forward to stand in front of Ronin, who looked him over. Ronin had never seen a human of Chinese descent before, but his ship given knowledge told him that’s what he was. The man was old, hunched, and walked with a cane. His hair was white and reached his waist, with a matching mustache and goatee that also reached his waist. He slowly stroked his goatee as he approached them, and looked between Elyria and Ronin when he came to a stop, only feet away.
“I overheard your conversations over the last few days… you are in my home, after all.” The old man said, undisturbed by the guns pointed at him. “I am curious, how you learned about this place… and about the ship you spoke of.” He turned to Aurex and spoke gently. “I would like you to bring them to the temple… as my honored guests.” At those words, the fighting spirit went out of both Aurex and Leo simultaneously.
“What’s going on?” Ronin whispered to Leo, who was calmly disengaging himself from Ronin’s arm. “Do you know this guy?”
“He’s a Daoist Priest, and the leader of earth’s largest city. Home to both crystallized and natural humans alike. The thing is, no one knows where it is. The old man showed up at a drop point decades ago and traded for a teleportation pad. The only way into or out of his city is by teleporting. I’ve been there before with Red, when we were studying. The Priest isn’t crystalized but survives the atmosphere just fine. It’s too long a story for now, but that’s when I ran afoul of Fabius.”
“Not that long a story, Lion.” Aurex said with a snort. “My father invited you into our society, you insulted him, our master, and the path we follow. There you go, kid, I simplified it for you.” The old Priest, who had been walking away stopped at the barbed comment. He turned and gazed at Aurex, with eyes the color and calmness of a deep, still pond.
“Was I unclear, Aurex?” He asked in a quiet voice, staring at the man seated on the semitruck sized dragon. “I have invited these people into my home as guests.” Ronin couldn’t see the man’s face behind the mask, but he bowed deeply from his seated position and turned back to Ronin’s group.
“My apologies, honored guests.” He said, voice not containing even a hint of scorn now. “We will wait until your companions join us, then, I will escort you to the city.” Ronin looked at Leo, who nodded grudgingly.
“If the old man gave his word, he’ll abide by it. This whole place is his after all, and he’s surprisingly powerful, despite how he looks.” Leo said, looking unhappy to admit it, but doing so all the same. “There was more to it than what Aurex said, but he’s right that I’m not welcomed here. Stay on your guard, but don’t start any fights.” Ronin gave him a thumbs up to show he’d heard, then exchanged looks with K3 and Elyria. His companions looked worried, but willing to follow Leo’s lead.
After that, they waited. The original plan had been to charge the Exo-suits, while they waited for those taking the tunnel to catch up, but no one was willing to do that now. Not with over twenty people holding guns, and an angry man riding a giant dragon. Ronin idly wondered if there was a point in spending all the growth vat slots, he’d been allotted on a dragon. It looked powerful, but it was only one creature, and likely ate a ton.
Eventually, they heard the party approaching. It wasn’t hard, since Jackson was cursing up a storm. Slinging threats and insults at everyone, from where she was being carried by a large, crystallized man who wore the body of a minotaur. The gangster had been bound, but the rest of the party came along quietly. Doctor Mycroft walking in the lead, Locke scurrying along at her heels.
“Are you alright?” Leo asked as soon as they came within easy speaking distance. The worry on his face told Ronin all he needed to know about the older man’s feelings for the red-headed doctor.
“I’m fine,” Mycroft said, with a quick grin. “I recognized one of the Priests from our last visit here. Who’d have thought the temple city was located where we were heading the whole time?” Ronin was confused but felt now wasn’t the best time to ask for explanations. So, he gathered up his people, told them to be ready but not to fire first, and happily left Jackson bound, as they started the trip.
They walked for days, or at least several days’ worth of time since there wasn’t any light down here. Ronin and his people all had night vision, but the natural humans didn’t. They’d gotten around that by giving Mycroft and the gangsters night vision helmets, but the humans from the cave didn’t have that as an option. When it became clear they were going to use flashlights, Elyria suggested the people wearing Exo-suits turn on their lights.
Ronin hadn’t even thought about them honestly, thanks to his ability to see in the dark, he’d never used them. So, he wasn’t sure what she meant at first. After fiddling around with the buttons for a minute, however, he found the right switch and the cave was suddenly flooded with light. Several bright LEDs now lit the cave they traveled down, letting their guides put away their flashlights.
They traveled faster after that, not as worried about stones tripping them up. After four days, Ronin was getting worried the suits would run out of power, when they came out into a giant open cavern. The place was so big he couldn’t see the other side, even with his suit lights. The beams just disappeared into the blackness. After a moment’s thought, he told his people to turn off their lights. Given a few minutes for his eyes to adjust, Ronin, along with half his people, gasped in astonishment at the sight that met their eyes.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” K3 said, letting out a whistle between his thick lips.
“I hear you, big guy.” Ronin said, trying, and failing, to give a whistle of his own.
“So, it’s not just me then?” Elyria asked, shaking her head as if to clear her vision. “That’s actually Undercity, isn’t it?” They stood on a ledge, overseeing the giant cavern. Far off in the distance, were the ruins of the city, they’d discovered in Ronin’s pocket world. It wasn’t in nearly as good a shape though. Half of it having fallen down, with stalactites and stalagmites growing towards each other in between the buildings, but it was the same city.
“How is that even possible?” Ronin asked, looking on in amazement. “The Undercity in my pocket world is over ninety million years old. How could it possibly have survived down here, undiscovered for that long?”
“What did you say?” Aurex asked sharply, riding his dragon over and bumping roughly into Ronin with the beast’s side. Ronin didn’t know if he, or the beast and rider, were more surprised when the push failed to topple the heavy suit. Ronin frowned, reevaluating the lethality of the long serpent looking dragon. Then decided it was probably like Unyielding oak. The wood elf had slaughtered Hobgoblins by the hundred, but she wouldn’t have been able to touch Ronin inside the suit. Not until she found a gap in the armor anyway. So, it was best not to judge the dragon on brute force alone.
“Excuse me,” Ronin said, taking a step back, “what did you say?”
“I asked what you said?” Aurex repeated, his face was covered, but Ronin could hear the embarrassed anger in the tone. Leo had once told him, Aurex was the power behind Fabius. Ronin wondered what he’d meant at the time, now he wasn’t sure if the older man had been right about that. He might be strong, or a good fighter, but he couldn’t control his temper very well. No one could hope to lead people if they couldn’t lead their own emotions.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I missed that.” Ronin said, both goading the dragon rider and giving himself time to think. He didn’t know if it was a good idea to explain that he’d found this place in his pocket world or not, but it would give them a valid reason for knowing where this, secret, city was located. “I found this place in my pocket world, er, personal realm.” He said at last, deciding on the truth. Since, he wasn’t much of a liar anyway.
“We discovered a few things we thought might give us an edge against the lizards. Actually…” He was cut off by the old Daoist Priest, appearing out of nowhere. It nearly made Ronin jump, because he hadn’t seen the old man since he’d walked away from them four days ago. He’d actually assumed he’d gone on ahead.
“Thank you, young man.” He said, stroking his goatee and holding his rosewood cane just under the simple, age worn ball that served as the cane’s head. “Why don’t you join me in my study, you and your people. We can discuss what you found in your personal realm then.” Ronin stared at the old man in shock, the move must have been out of character, because both Leo and Mycroft were looking at him in confusion as well.
“Of course, elder.” Ronin said, bowing respectfully. Well, as respectfully as he could in the armored suit. “It would be my pleasure.” He was confused, but he had learned he wasn’t the best at figuring out these kinds of situations. So, he decided to just go with it, and keep his eyes open. Thankfully, Elyria and K3 were both sharp. They’d gone on alert the moment the old man appeared beside Ronin.
Having secured Ronin’s silence, the old man walked away again. Heading towards the ruined city, which was nevertheless teaming with life. It was too far away to see clearly, but Ronin thought he could see several people walking the streets.
“We’ll continue this conversation later.” Aurex said, turning his dragon mount away, and following the old man. Ronin watched him go, wondering what he’d done to make an enemy of the dragon rider, and hoping this didn’t delay them getting to the ship. They hadn’t anticipated the cave would be filled with people, and he just hoped it didn’t come to a fight; they were far too outnumbered for that.