A few weeks later, as the thaws neared, Elizabet and I were woken up early in the morning by a frantic pounding at the door.

“Ivor? It’s Blainaut. I think you should come outside,” came his worried voice.

Elizabet and I shared a look of concern. She rose, pulling on her habit and opened the door.

“Blainaut? What’s going on?” she asked.

“It would be best if you two just came with me. Trust me,” he said, and hurriedly began walking toward the Great Hall.

I rose with some difficulty, as I had been training with the Haarthuu warriors in their unique fighting style these past few weeks, and shouldered my Pack. I didn’t know what had Blainaut so worried, but whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

“I’ll go on ahead, Ivor. Meet us as you’re able, okay?” Elizabet said as she hurried off.

I nodded, and grabbed the last of the bundle of meat. I may as well eat what I could as I went. It took me about ten more minutes than it did Elizabet, but I eventually made it to the Great Hall, where I found a horde of Haarthuu surrounding…something.

Spying me, the Elder called my name and ordered the crowd to disperse. “Ivor! Over here, please! Will you lot move? Let the man through!”

Slowly, the crowd parted, revealing Elizabet and Blainaut standing still, fury evident on their faces, with someone sat on the bench between them. It was a Human male with a crooked nose and large clublike hands. His clothes were tattered, torn and stained red and yellow on the back of his pants.

“Klebhammer,” I said darkly.

I stood still, feeling my Anger welling up within me. “he’s back. must die. revoke his subscription to Life, we must. destroy him. destroy him! DESTROY HIM!”

The insidious whispers within my head threatened to overtake me, and I shuddered at the intrusion. I took a deep breath and whispered back, “Not yet. First we must discover his reasons, and then decide.”

This, oddly enough, quieted the Anger within, and I turned my attention to Artos.

“Klebhammer? What are you doing here?” I asked in a monotone.

He dumbly looked up, his eyes sunken into his gaunt face. “Freyrsson. Must. Deliver. Message,” he mumbled.

Confused, I stepped closer, keeping a fair distance between us. “I’m here, Artos. Say what you will,” I announced.

At my words, he slowly stood, and I heard the clinking and grinding of stone. He took one painful step towards me, and then another. I could easily see the agony on his face from the movement. He stopped about four feet from where I stood, and my right hand drifted toward one of my daggers.

Slowly, he reached into his vest pocket, and produced a sealed tube. “From. Amos. To. Ivor,” he said haltingly.

He held his hand out flat, the tube resting on his palm, dumbly staring over my head, into the gloom. I darted forward, snatching the tube from his hand, and leapt back, finding myself an extra five feet away from him. The movement didn’t seem to even register with him.

I knelt, placing a hand on the cavern floor. “Wall of Stone.” I said, and caused a cone of stone to spring up, surrounding the man entirely, leaving only his head free. Artos only blinked dumbly.

“Elizabet? Will you come here, please? I’d like for you to see if this message tube is enchanted in any way. I’m still not adept at that, and my emotions are getting the better of me right now,” I said.

“Sure, hang on,” she said and walked over to me, skirting the man in the stone by a wide margin. She laid her hand on the tube, and concentrated. “No. I don’t think so. If it is enchanted, it is hidden remarkably well. I think you should open it.”

I slipped out my dagger, and worked it under the wax seal that I supposed was that of Amos Basingdown, the Thieves Guild leader in Nogogard. The seal popped free, and I opened the tube. Inside was a simple scroll and a stone. I palmed the stone without thinking about it, and unfurled the scroll.

Thankfully, it was short, and read as follows:

Dearest Ivor,

I regret to inform you that I’ve discovered your whereabouts, and will be dispatching several bands of Slavers to your little refuge within the week to recoup the losses you dealt to me. Do try not to perish. I’d hate to be robbed of the chance to kill you myself.

Oh, and do give my regards to Elizabet. I am so looking forward to our reunion.

With love,

Amos Basingdown.

I growled in fury and crumpled the note. “They’re coming. Everyone? Get ready,” I said, my voice laced with rage.

“What? Who’s coming? Ivor, you’re scaring me. What’s happening?” Elizabet said, tears filling her eyes.

“Your former Guildmaster has sent several bands of Slavers to Haruma. They’ll be here within the week, probably today,” I said, my face a grim mask.

“Elder! Gather your warriors. There are raiders coming. I’m putting a stop to this, even if it kills me,” I said, and walked over to where Artos was effectively entombed, as The Elder hurriedly gave orders to various men, women and children. “Spider Climb.” I whispered and walked up the stone wall, squatting in front of Klebhammer.

The Elder turned, shouting orders at various people “And you! Gather the cooks. We will need as much food as we can make as soon as we can make it. Go. Now!”

“You listen to me, you slimy sack of filth. I know you’re watching; I know you’re listening. I will kill every last man, woman, or creature you send after me, and then I will hunt you down, and make their deaths seem like a warm spring day on the lake in comparison to what I will do to you. Do you understand me, Basingdown?” I growled.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Artos’ face took on a gruesome smile. The voice that emanated from the man was definitely not his own. “Oh, Ivor. If only you knew what I know. You can never beat me. I don’t care how well you think you know the Ancient Tongue, I know words you could never fathom. Congratulations on learning my true timetable. A pity your little yippers can never prepare themselves in time. Not even you could hope to contain what has been sent your way,” he said, and began laughing maniacally.

“Fuck you, Amos. I’ll kill them all myself, if I must. The Haarthuu are my people, and I’ll never allow you to take another,” I said and slammed my dagger into the man’s temple, feeling it sink effortlessly to the hilt as the corpse fell.

I walked down the cone, and dispelled the wall, finding Artos’ body crumpled within. I retrieved my dagger, wiping it off on his clothes, and sheathed it. I then took hold of the body, dragging it out of the cavern and propped it up against the outside wall.

“Flesh to Stone,” I whispered and watched as Artos’ body became one with the stone, a macabre carving of granite. I turned, leaving the new statue, and walked back into Haruma.

“Elder? I have an idea. It’s going to wear me out, but I can make hunting blinds in the top of the cavern, facing out. We can have the warriors and hunters set up defenses there, and hide the rest of Haruma deeper within the caverns. I won’t allow another of the Haarthuu be taken by them,” I said defiantly.

“Ivor? Please. Please don’t go burning yourself out. I don’t want to lose you,” Elizabet begged, tears in her eyes.

I rounded on her, the warring fury and pain evident in my eyes. “They can’t have another. They’ll never get their dirty hands on another of the Lizardfolk, or you, for that matter. I won’t allow it. Never again. I won’t allow it!” I spat, and walked up the cavern wall.

I walked out of the cavern, and began to Shape the stone face above the entrance. I carved out a niche deep enough for me to stand up in, compressing the stone into itself, hardening the lot of it, with a six-inch thick wall of stone about waist high. The niche extended far enough into the face of the mountain for me to completely conceal myself, and out to either side with enough room to have four of the Haarthuu beside me. I hurriedly Shaped ten more of the hides to either side of the one in the center, and ate more jerky.

I placed my hands on the stone, and let my consciousness drift into the mountain. I saw laid bare before my inner eye, the layout of the stone from the external wall to the Great Hall. I chose a series of pathways from each of the hunting blinds to a pair of tunnels on either side, and Spoke my most ambitious spell yet.

“Stone, obey my command. Form tunnels to land. Mountain to boulder; boulder to stone, stone to pebble, pebble to sand. Flow down, make room where ‘twas none before.”

I focused my rage and fury into the mountain in an incoherent scream, and felt it rumble as tunnels large enough for the Lizardfolk to traverse were made from the hunting blinds to hidden recesses in the side walls of the cavern. Boulders and rocks dislodged from the tunnels, and began to decompose into sand as they flowed down.

Testing my Spider Climb spell once more, I ran out of my blind, and down the cavern wall. “Elder! Have your people remove all that sand over there and over there,” I said, pointing at the two new tunnels that had belched sand onto the floor of the cavern. “I don’t care where it goes, but none of the attackers can ever know those tunnels exist. There are twenty hides up there with room for five Haarthuu each. I have one in the center that only I can access. I don’t know how much more I can do, but that will have to be a start,” I said shakily.

“It will be done, Ivor. For now, my friend, you must rest. You are pale and shaking. A sure sign that you have nearly tapped yourself out,” he said gently, as he led me to the kitchens, Elizabet and Blainaut on our heels.

They led me to a table and forcibly sat me down. “Gon-rash!” The young man burst out of the kitchen doors. “Get Ivor something, anything, to eat. He’s going to need his strength. We have trouble coming, and he intends to kill them by himself. He’s only one man, and he needs to remember that. Still, I won’t deny him the chance to kill Slavers,” bellowed the Elder

At the mention of Slavers, the young man’s face went as hard as the stone around us. “Understood, Elder. Ivor? Stay put. I’ll bring you a snack, and then get you something that will be uniquely helpful for you,” he said solemnly, before ducking back into the kitchens.

I sat there, my hands steepled in front of my face, my fury still raging within. How dare they attack my home? I vowed to remove the Guild from the face of the planet if it cost me my life. Food was placed in front of me, and I ate mechanically, not tasting any of it. Elizabet and Blainaut shared a worried look between them.

“Ivor… Ivor, I think we all understand how you feel,” Blainaut said, taking a seat beside me. “Haruma has become a home to me, as well. I’ve grown to love these people here, Liss-ran in particular. I, too, wish to see the Slavers eradicated from this planet. This barbaric practice has gone on long enough, and we are all the worse off for it. My friend” -he laid a gentle hand on my shoulder- “I will do whatever is within my power to help you. Just say the word,” he said, gripping my shoulder affectionately, then stood.

As he rose, I reached up and took his hand in mine and squeezed it gratefully. “Thank you, Blainaut. I think I will absolutely need your skills here. You can handle logistics, yes?” At his nod, I continued, “I’m going to need you to help organize the supply chain of arrows for the Haarthuu, as well as the food. Help the Elder coordinate the rotation of warriors in the hunting blinds. I will have some massive earth moving and shaping to do once I’ve eaten,” I said.

“Elizabet? I’d like for you to go to my workshop and retrieve the small key that is hanging on the wall behind my leatherworking station. Be swift, please. I don’t know how much longer we have,” I said, watching her run off.

“Ivor, I want you to be more cautious this time. Amos isn’t like the rest. He’s no pushover like Artos, or the guard captain in Nogogard. He is vile, dangerous, and cunning,” Blainaut said before he too went off to start organizing and planning with the Elder.

I nodded, brooding silently. After a moment, Gon-rash came out of the kitchen with a platter of meat, some fruits, and a dish of some sweet-smelling sauce.

“Here you are, Ivor. This will get you started. I’m preparing something that will hopefully sustain you for a long while. It may not taste the best, but I hope it will do what’s needed,” the young chef said.

I grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. “Thank you, Gon-rash. For everything. I hope we all live through this, and if not, I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate you more than you could ever know,” I said earnestly.

“I love you too, Ivor. Let me work to help you, like you have for us,” he said with a smile and a nod.

I let him go and focused on the platter of food. I was finishing my second slice of meat when Elizabet appeared at my side. “I have the key. If you don’t mind me asking, what is this for?” she queried breathlessly.

I sighed and stood up, using my finger to Shape a message of ‘Back soon’ in the table. “No time like now,” I said, walking towards the crafting area. “Come with me. I have been keeping something from you. All of you,” I said somberly. Elizabet hurried after me, concern written across her face.

“All of us? Ivor, honey, what’s going on? You’re scaring me,” she said as I reached my destination.

We were about a hundred yards or so from the dome light. I ran my hands across the intricately carved wall, searching for something.

“Honey. This is a blank wall. There’s nothing here. We’ve passed this place hundreds of times. What’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?” she begged.

I found the small bit of stone I was looking for and slid it to the side, revealing a keyhole and a depression. I turned to Elizabet. “Here we are. Stay close and don’t touch anything. Promise me,” I said, gazing into her eyes.

“I promise.”

I nodded and inserted the key, turning it until we heard a click sound. I slipped my fingers into the depression and pulled with all my might. The door swung silently open.