A prodding finger woke Grugg in a cold, panicked sweat. His meaty hand gripped at his assailant as his eye tried to focus into view. Gray tufts of hair peeked out from between his finger, and his stomach dropped. A cold wave of nausea flashed over him as the grappled individual gurgled in pain. And then, realization. It was a yeti, and he was still sitting in the throne room. Releasing his grip on the face of the yeti, he wiped the sweat off his brow. The yeti, who had some kind of balm paste on his hands, scurried off out of the chamber in fear.
[I think he was trying to put salve on your wounds. They probably think it was working really well; my healing spell has done some decent work for you. If I do say so myself.]
"How long Grugg been asleep?" the cyclops groaned, taking a deep breath of the stale underground air. He checked his wounds. They had closed up and healed almost to perfection, just looking like fresh scars more than fresh injuries. His muscles still ached, but being a little stiff and sore was much better than the alternative of the possible weeks of unassisted healing.
[It's hard to judge, as we are underground, but I'd say it has been almost a whole day since we first arrived here. Certainly enough time that the yeti got bored with waiting around and most went off to do who knows what.]
Grugg stood up, dropping the patchwork blankets to the floor. It was chilly without them on; perhaps he would need to invest in some better winter clothes before the season fully arrived. Stretching, the uncomfortable stone throne had done no favors for his recovering muscles. Thus had been placed next to where he had been sleeping. The metal cap now sported a couple of shinier silver scrapes, and there were a few indents in the faded green wood, but otherwise, the club had fared alright. Picking up Thud in one hand and the Moonchaser Orb staff in the other, he turned to the covered exit of the chamber.
"'Bout time that we left?"
[I wholeheartedly agree. Although channeling the healing on you took up most of the time you were asleep, I don't think I could bear another hour of listening to the yeti shout back and forth.]
"Where are all the stinkers?" He had noted that a further banquet was not prepared for him, despite his explicit request. In fairness, if the pantry he raided was the only one, then he had already eaten most food they had stored away. Not really much of an excuse, still. Glancing around the room, it seemed they had removed all the dead bodies as well as all the precious decorations from the walls. In fact, the chamber was utterly devoid of anything except the cyclops and his two sticks.
[They started clearing things out a little while ago. Gradually, once things had gone, fewer and fewer of them returned. As to what they are doing, your guess is better than mine.]
Could be burying the dead. Or rather, by burying he meant either eating or (in the case of Hakran) putting them up outside the temple as a warning to any would-be intruders. Yeti did not like to waste a potential meal, although brains were usually off the proverbial table. Something about bad luck, which the ex-king learned the hard way. That did bring up a question in Grugg's brain, though…
"Yeti knew Hat and Grugg were going to be here," stepping across the cool chamber floor now, albeit stiffly, "Thud wonders why."
[Well, it could simply be that they had a scout that spotted us, and we did not see them. That would be the most straightforward possibility. When solving a mystery, often the most straightforward solution is usually the correct one. The hard part is getting the evidence to support your conclusion.]
"Evidence?" he queried, not knowing the word in Common, as he pushed the door covering to the side and started traveling down the corridor. It was even chillier in this part of the cave system, the throne chamber having retained a modest amount of body heat.
[Like proof - tracks, bloodstains, possession of important items-]
"Ah, that's what orb for!" Grugg beamed with realization and held the staff up in front of his eye. It generated a small amount of white light, not really enough to transcend the depths of the world, but every little helped.
[Exactly! There may be a very important purpose for that very Orb that helps crack the case I have been stuck on for a while. Before it grows cold.]
"Already cold enough," the cyclops grumbled, itching at the healed wound on his collarbone with the edge of the staff. "Let's go look down that other tunnel, see what yeti were doing?"
[Great idea, Grugg. If there is anything useful there, maybe we can take it for ourselves.]
The cyclops grinned to himself. That was more like his kind of thinking. Eventually, they made it back to the first chamber, where a small lit pyre had been built, and two yeti were standing by it.
[It seems they don't care much about smoke inhalation…]
"Oi, where the rest of you go?" The yeti turned to him. The first was the older, gray-haired yeti he had accidentally grabbed upon waking, and the other was the taller one he had appointed the new leader.
"Ah, one-eye, you walk again." The tone of the new leader was not unkind, but it did give the impression that perhaps the cyclops had outworn his welcome. "Most are out hunting, and the rest are closing down mine." He gestured to the open passageway at the other side of the chamber.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Can I see mine before I go?." Grugg translated for the wizard; "Mine is being closed down."
[It looks like their new leader isn't so enamored with baubles.]
"Suppose so." The leader exchanged a glance with the older yeti. "Just no funny ideas."
The cyclops grinned ear to ear, which did little to ease their concerns. Funny ideas might be amusing; they must have something really interesting going on down there if funny ideas were a possibility. In fact, he had one already. He walked up to the pyre and stuck the end of Thud into the flame. The two yeti started backing away slowly, eyes widening.
[Dare I even ask what you are up to?]
Grugg said nothing, but watched the metal casing at the end of his club heat up in the fire. Flames licked around the dark metal, charring it slightly before a nice amber glow started to appear in the area facing the heat source. It was by no means hot enough to melt the metal, but it most likely wasn't a robust alloy and just softening it a little would be enough for what he had planned.
The staff clattered to the ground by his feet as he dropped it and with a quick two-handed grip on Thud, brought the club down in a heavy downward swing.
[What the-]
A deafening clang rang out as the weapon struck the chamber floor, drowning out the end of the wizard's sentence and causing the yeti to duck for cover as shards of the wooden staff splintered and shot across the room. The echo of the impact repeated further down the tunnels as all present tried to regain their composure. Grugg lifted up Thud to inspect it.
Where the metal cap had previously been almost flat at the end, it now bowed out in a domed shape. The rounded bump caused by the displaced wood, as now, in the side of the club the Moonchaser Orb had been almost fully embedded into the softer alloy of the tip. The shocked wizard finally broke the stunned silence in the room.
[Wow. I'm not sure where to even begin. I am thankful that the Orb did not break, at least. Although magical items are much hardier than their mundane counterparts, they aren't invincible.]
"Look, Bart. Thud has an eye now, too!" The pride in the cyclops' voice was undeniable.
[Yes, oh! I do much prefer that to 'hat'. It's close enough. That makes me happy, actually. That is besides the point, though! We had better check that the Orb still functions before any celebration.]
Grugg nodded and gave Thud a pat on its newly rounded head. Maybe once they go to town, he could ask a blacksmith to re-cap the club in proper metal and have the Orb set intentionally. Not to doubt his own methods, but Thud was looking a bit worse for wear from doing it the brute force way.
"Sorry for mess." In fairness, those pieces of shrapnel from the broken staff that didn't end up in the fire did little to add to the already filthy and cluttered chamber. However, the two yeti did not respond, too on edge from being around the seemingly unhinged mass of potential death if they got on his bad side.
[Hakran seemed to be the only one who knew to do more than hunt. They soon ditched the armor and weapons after you dethroned him.]
"Yeti are group hunters, different skill than combat fightin'." He scratched his chin as he walked past the two nervous yeti, down into the tunnel to the primary mines. "Opposite of Grugg. Grugg terrible hunter. Good at squishing weaklings. No offence, " he added at the end, remembering his present company.
[Unfortunately, there shouldn't be much… squishing to do once we are solving my case. Just your size alone will help dissuade any strong-arm attempts by… less than scrupulous individuals.]
Grugg wasn't sure what that meant, but if they had strong arms, then maybe he could fight them. Humans and the other valley folk were weaker than the yeti and not as foolhardy to get into melee with him. So unfortunately, it might just mean a little holiday for Thud. Maybe they could find some criminals to fight instead! His mind wandered as they descended the cold corridor of roughly mined stone, thinking about taking on a bandit camp and all the spoils from the undisputed victory.
Further down the slightly sloped passageway, a couple of smaller chambers sporadically were dug out. With the amount of leather and furs lying about the floors, it would be simple enough to guess they were bedrooms of some degree. There was no second pantry, much to the cyclops' disappointment. Eventually, just when his thick soles were starting to feel the chill of the rough stone floor again, they entered into a large chamber - the most expansive yet. It had an odd shape, where the various minerals and veins had been dug out under the guidance of the Moonchaser Orb. Rough scaffolding made out of scavenged or badly carpentered wood dotted some areas of the room, which a group of yeti were currently taking apart.
It seemed most of the mining had been done on the farthest side of the chamber, where a rough swathe of the wall had been chipped at, the various excuses for picks laying at the ground before it.
[Intriguing, I wonder what was in there that was so important.]
Grugg shrugged and moved further into the room, about twenty feet from the wall. "Thud, have a look." He held the club up, with Orb facing away from him. A slight vibration could be felt throughout the weapon as the artefact began to whirl with a light blue light before a flash in the eye of the cyclops illuminated the area briefly for him.
[That's strange. I'm not seeing any-oh wait, there it is, it's… it's… Oh, seven hells! Grugg, let's leave. Right now. Straight away, right now. Or at least turn away so I can't see it.]
Grugg stood there stunned, with a mix of fear and wonder. The yeti watched with curious apprehension as the cyclops, with mouth agape, paler than when he was on the brink of death, and eye wide with panic, promptly did a complete 180-degree turn and paced briskly out of the chamber. They shrugged to themselves and continued dismantling the wooden planks.
The pair did not stop their expeditious retreat out of the temple, only stopping briefly in the first chamber where the leader yeti remained.
"If I hear the sound of mining up here again, I will come and snap all of your arms off." The normally genuine threat had a chilling seriousness when combined with the look in the eye of the cyclops. He did not even wait for an acknowledgement before striding back off towards the temple exit.
As they reached the surface and reveled in the taste of fresh air once more, the magical outline from around a thirty foot tall humanoid skull buried deep below them slowly faded from view.