We ran and we didn't stop anytime soon either. Or rather, Gash'zur ran and pulled me along. At least at first. It was a good thing too, as I quickly broke into a sweat. Not because we were running but because the heat of the dragon fire seemed to be seeping into the rock. At least the air didn't turn unbearable hot. That was only because the fire behind us was sucking up cold air from deeper in the tunnels though. Thus I was sweating quite a bit while the wind chill made me shiver at the same time. It was most certainly not a pleasant combination.
Thus we hurried through the apparently mostly abandoned royal quarters, heading deeper into the mountain with every step. The rising heat wasn't the only thing to remind us of the raging dragon behind and possibly above us either. Every once in a while the earth shook. At times it was bad enough to almost knock me off my feet. That we were fleeing in a hurry, and through unknown territory to boot, probably didn't exactly help in that regard. Was it just the dragon raging? Or was it parts of the city or maybe even the mountain collapsing?
Would we end up buried under a mountain's worth of rubble? I had no way of knowing. I didn't even have the peace of mind to properly think about it. How long had we been running anyway? How many corners had we taken and how many ramps and stairs had we descended? I hadn't kept track of any of that either. The place certainly had changed around us though. Gone were the delicate ornaments decorating the walls. Instead the corridors and halls we were hurrying through seemed much more utilitarian instead. Finally we came to a halt and I had a chance to catch my breath, calm my nerves and get my bearings.
Was this even still part of the city's royal quarters? We hadn't passed through any gates like the one that had allowed us entry into the royal quarters to begin with, of that I was certain. No, we hadn't passed any gates worth mentioning at all. I looked over at the giantess. “What is this place? Is this still part of the palace? Where are we heading? What about that overgrown lizard? How will we get out?” As I started the questions just kept pouring out of me.
Gash'zur raised a hand and put a finger to her lips, hushing me. When she answered it was in a barely audible whisper. “Quiet. I'm not sure how much of the stories about dragons is true and how much is just myth or superstition. There probably isn't anyone alive who know for sure. I for my part don't feel like finding out if it can still hear us.” She paused briefly, eyeing me as she did so. “Anyway, can you keep going? I don't have to keep dragging you along, or do I?”
I blushed a little, although it probably wasn't visible considering what little light the few lamps down here provided. The way I had frozen up as the dragon made its grand entrance was not one of my proudest moments. I cleared my throat. “I can manage now. At least I think I can.”
She nodded. “That was Dragon Fear. Some people say it is just a natural reaction to the mere presence of such a creature. I doubt that that is all there is to it though. It tends to affect different people in different ways after all.”
I frowned. “Except you and your brother.” My hand clenched on empty air, as Yath'zur had grabbed my glaive to charge in the opposite direction as his sister an I fled. “The two of you seemed not to be affected much at all, while most of the rest of us froze up or ran away in a panic.”
She nodded. “Its a gift us giants received from the maidens. Or at least the old legends claim it is. We can keep our calm. Mostly at least. Anyway …” At this point she started looking around as well. “… this looks like a really old part of the city. It could be a mine entrance. Maybe they kept it like this as an escape tunnel of sorts. At least that is what I hope. I don't fancy our chances of getting back out the way we came in.”
I swallowed hard and steadied myself against one of the walls as I felt a cold lump forming in my stomach. “What about the others? The people of the city? The rest of the army? The camp outside?” I had to fight the urge to throw up. I probably wouldn't like the answers to these questions but I had to ask them anyway. Had I led all these people relying on me to their doom?
For a long moment there was silence, broken only by the occasional tremor caused by the raging dragon above. Gash'zur's voice was shaky as she finally answered. “Yath'zur took your glaive to try and buy us some time. He is probably dead and so are, in all likelihood, the others who were in the throne room with us. I'm not entirely sure about the city itself. The dragon is probably focused on its new hoard. It might ignore most who just try to flee.”
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She took another deep breath before she continued. “It probably didn't bother much with the rest of army camped outside either. If I had to guess there probably would be many who would break rank and flee when faced with one of those mythological terrors. I wouldn't hold it against them either. It probably would be for the best. Some of the officers might be able to gather up anyone who got away and lead them back home. Anyway, that would be the most sensible thing to do. I just hope that none were foolish enough to try and challenge the dragon.”
I could only nod numbly. Considering the way the cursed thing broke through the defenses of the city to get at the piled up gold, almost as if they weren't there at all, it probably could have wasted my army without much effort. A cold shiver ran down my back. “Oh Maidens, please guide them home safely.”
As I finished with my quick prayer the giantess spoke up again. “Anyway, we can't go back up to get out. We are lucky though. We should be able to get out this way.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure about that?” It was a honest question. We probably were hundreds of paces below the surface. Just thinking about the sheer mass of the rock above our heads made me shiver. How could she be certain this was a way out?
She scratched the back of her head before answering. “Well, you noticed how the dragon fire kept sucking in fresh air? Almost like a furnace? I just kept going the way the breeze was coming from. That air had to be coming from somewhere after all. It might just take us a little while to get back to the surface though.”
Then another thought struck me. “and what if these tunnels lead ever deeper into the earth? What if they are connected with the Deep Dark?”
Somehow Gash'zur didn't seem too concerned by that prospect. She just shrugged. “A lot of places are connected to the Deep Dark. There are several entrances to that system of caverns and caves back in the capital as well. There were some back home in the mountains as well. We used to explore them as kids. We never went to deep but the Deep Dark isn't actually that bad. Unless you have problems with narrow spaces?”
I shook my head. “No, no problems. Not yet anyway. Not sure how I will feel about it in a week or two though if we get stuck down here.”
My companion patted my back. “Lets check our gear first before we head any deeper. Maybe we can scavenge some things from the chambers around here.”
That sounded sensible enough. I started taking stock of my own things. “I'm down to just one hunting knife and my shield. My armor still seems to be in good shape. I have a small package of dried food and some medical herbs. That won't last long though. I'm more worried about water. I only have one skin and that one is empty.”
The giantess didn't seem worried as she took stock of her own belongings. “Don't worry too much about water. We should be able to find plenty enough. We just have to make sure its not contaminated runoff from a dwarven mine. We might have to ration the food though, at least until we find something to replenish our reserves. Cave fish, mushrooms or maybe even just the right kind of lichen.”
As she kept talking she backtracked a little and took one of the few lanterns providing light down here off its hooks. She got a few more soon after, extinguishing them to collect their oil instead. “Light. That can be a problem. Neither of us can see in complete darkness after all. There are plenty of glowing lichen and mushrooms in most places but not in all.”
Before long we both ended up carrying a fully replenished lantern. One was lit, although turned down low. The other was not. It would serve as a spare. Gash'zur flashed me a smile as we set out again. “Keep your eyes open. We might still stumble across a maintenance cabinet or a tool shed we could loot. There might even be something like a break room if this was or is a mine.”