Making any real sense of the maps turns out to be exceedingly difficult. Several hours pass before Hannah and the others are able to piece together what looks like on paper a passable route up through the mountain to the suspected lair of the Wyverns and their leader.
Tom says, "Come, we venture into the heart of darkness," Eis rumbles as the great cat drops to all fours. "Should any of you wish to ride my back, you are allowed. The passages seem large enough for travel on steed and it will save your strength.""
"Isn't this more the arsehole of darkness, since we're startin' at the butt of the mountain?" Rosy whispers to Sam.
Peaches steps up behind Hannah, determined to be in grabbing range should the Hawk slip.
Sam eyes Rosy. "Don't let Eis think you're a dog, dogs are the ones who are always sniffing butts."
"I've been holdin' me breath in here," Rosy claims.
Hannah looks over at Sam. "Do you wish the Princess to carry you and Rosy? I could take Eis' offer, then." She tries to arrange things this way because - given his prejudice against dogs - Eis may not like it if Rosy was on his back.
The minstrel gives Princess a sidelong look.
Peaches returns the look, and then nods her head. Apparently smelling like roses makes a difference to her.
"I call frontsies!" Rosy says, and clambers up into the saddle.
Sam mutters, "And I get the back end of the deal," but hops in back.
Hannah approaches the great cat and says politely, "If I may?"
"What the tail!" Rosy notes.
Peaches ignores her riders as best she can, and watches how Hannah gets on to Eis.
"I would be honored," Eis rumbles as he dips his head to the woman. Not only does he crouch down a bit, but he holds out his right foreleg, offering it as a 'stepstool' for the hawk.
"Thank you," Hannah says, using the offered foreleg to climb onto Eis' back. She lets the cat know when she is settled.
"Are you all prepared? Eis rumbles to the group, "Once we leave, we may not return."
Sam decides against 'giddyapping' Princess. "Right as rain, Eis!"
"As prepared as we can be, I think," Hannah replies, making sure that her map of the tunnels is close at hand.
Peaches whinnies, and then begins casting a glamour to produce some extra light, making it seem like she's grown a spectral unicorn's horn with a glowing bulb at the tip.
"May we all be as brave as you, Sam, when we are your age," Eis rumbles approvingly and heads off into the dark tunnels. Soon enough, the glow of the city fades away behind them and the group find themselves deep within the silent earth.
Perhaps the earth is not so silent the group realizes after several long hours of walking through the dark passageways. The sound of dripping water is pervasive and he air grows steadily colder and more damp, even though they're sure they're ascending. The walls switch from rough hewn stone to natural caves, then back to carved stone over and over as they have walked. The place feels so ... dead; they haven't even found any cave fish in the pools of water they've passed.
Hannah notes the lack of any life at all - even lichens or mosses clinging to the rock - and frowns. "Either it's too cold in here...or something's keeping everything else from living," she mutters.
"Mmm.. hmm.. rats?" Rosy mutters from where she's effectively fallen asleep in Sam's lap, thanks to Peach's Knightsteed footing producing a smooth ride. Well, smooth enough for the doglin, anyway.
"Death lurks deep in the shadows as the old stories say," Eis rumbles as he continues to walk, his footsteps making nary a noise. "Do not let your senses be lulled into apathy. We are far from safe here."
"Smell any fewmets?" Sam asks of Rosy. "If there's something that's eating everything up, moss an' mushrooms an' all, they ought to have left some tracks."
Reluctantly, Rosy stretches out and takes a sniff of the air.
"I smell.. uh.." Rosy says, sniffing some more. "A breeze! And almost something familiar, but it blew away."
Eis' ears flick forward. "We are approaching a large cavern," the great cat notes in a low hiss. "The drips ahead are ... echoing. Caverns can be dangerous, should they have weak stalactites above. Be wary.
"Thank you for the warning," Hannah says and rummages in her sack for her lantern. Extra light could be helpful in such a situation.
The old minstrel adjusts the hood of his fur-lined cloak back so he can look up at the roof of the tunnel, shivering a bit. "I take it now's not the time for a cheery riding song?"
Hannah glances at the minstrel, smiling sidelong at him. "Not really, no. Sorry."
"Yeah, bad time to bring the house down with a song," Rosy notes.
Once Hannah has her lantern out and lit, Eis rolling gait resumes. The cat was right, for in ten minutes the group steps out into a huge cavern. Easily a hundred foot wide or more, the cavern dwarfs the group. To make matters worse, both the ceiling and the floor are shrouded in darkness and the group finds themselves walking across a thin, natural-looking, stone 'bridge'. It is no more than five foot wide.
Hannah looks instantly down at Eis and murmurs to him, "Do you think it will hold your weight?"
Eis pads to the edge and peers over, then along, the bridge's length. "It should, but we should spread out a bit to distribute our weight," the cat notes after some thought.
Hannah agrees. "I could also walk instead of riding here, if that might also help."
Sam hops off Princess. "Rosy, want to scout ahead then? You're the lightest."
"Your weight is slight. I doubt it would make any difference," Eis notes, "But the choice is yours."
"Okay!" Rosy barks, and runs up to the head of the line. "Got an extra lantern?" she asks Hannah.
"No, but go ahead and take mine, Rosy. I think I'll stay with Eis." That said, Hannah passes the lantern down to her.
Holding the lantern and keeping low, Rosy makes her way out across the bridge looking for cracks or gaps or spots that make noise.
The minstrel confides to Hannah, "Weight-wise, it won't make a difference, but Tom always used to say what you don't know will hurt you a lot harder than what you do."
Rosy makes her way out onto the bridge without much difficulty. The bridge itself seems old but still surprisingly sturdy. There aren't any signs of dangerous cracks or gaps as best the doglin can tell. Of course, she doesn't have long to enjoy this news because the familiar scent she caught whiff of earlier returns in full force when a gust of wind rolls upward from he cavern floor far below. The faint stench of old, rotting, meat.
"All right so far, Rosy?" Hannah asks, watching the doglin's progress.
Sam looks upward nervously, anticipating the fall of darkness-shrouded needles of certain doom.
"Ewww," the doglin goes, and gets on all fours to peek over the side of the ledge. "Smell dead things. And.. uh.. hear something. Maybe chewing," she calls back.
"Sounds like whatever's down there's finishing off its lunch, we'd better hurry," the minstrel suggests optimistically.
From Rosy's vantage point at the edge she sees ... a whole lot of darkness below her. One thing is certain though, that faint sound of chewing is louder when she's looking down.
"Huh. Guess my second theory may have been correct," Hannah says. "We'd better get going - but carefully."
Envoy says, "Peaches was the 2nd"
The group starts the slow way across. Rosy backs away from the edge without incident and moves reaching the other side without a problem. Eis and Sam also make their way across the bridge, neither making much noise in the process. Peaches, unfortunately, has a minor incident when she reaches the three-quarters point on the bridge. Her hoof catches a loose stone and sends it flying sideways, then off the side of the bridge. It descends into the darkness below and an echoing clatter soon follows it...
Hannah errrrs... "We may have just given ourselves away. Has the chewing stopped, Rosy?"
Peaches immediately tries to look nonchalant about the incident, despite her glowing glamour.
"The chewing stopped," Rosy whispers to the others.
Sam looks at Rosy. "All in favor of disappearing into the shadows and pretending we aren't in the same adventuring party, raise your hand," he whispers quickly. He sticks his hand up in the air as he moves to implement his proposal.
"Then come the rest of the way over, as quickly and safely as you can," Hannah says in a low voice to the Knightsteed.
It starts slow at first ... little red lights blinking into existence far below the bridge. No more than half a dozen at first, but the number quickly starts to grow. Two dozen, a hundred, then, gods, it might be a thousand. The darkness below becomes a wash in in the blood red glow of eyes.
The minstrel tries to hide. That looks pretty bad. Yes, yes it does. Poor Princess.
"Everyone else take what shelter you can, I'm not going to leave until the Princess is across," Hannah whispers to them, determinedly sliding off Eis' back.
Peaches tiptoes across the rest of the bridge.
The red light practically boils beneath the bridge as it starts to rise, a high-pitched chittering echoing almost painfully in the cavern. Eis draws up slightly, ears flattening back against his armored skull. "Cerridwen protect us ... The Ombras!" the great cat roars, "RUN!"
"Are they like rats?" Rosy asks before grabbing onto the big cat's armor.
At the roar and the mass of lights, Peaches' glamour winks out.. or reverses, making her seem blacker than black.
"They are the hunger of the earth itself!" the great cat claims. "Hannah, Peaches, we have to go, now.
The knighsteed rushes past, pausing only to grab Rosy by the back of her shirt and carry her off.
Sam peers out of the shadows. Hmm. Don't want to get left behind. He reaches out for Rosy and shakes her. "All in favor of a hasty retreat, MOVE YOUR FEET!" He runs.
Hannah breathes a quick sigh of relief as Peaches launches past, then turns and runs, too!
If Rosy has any reply, it's choked off by her own shirt collar riding up into her throat.
Eis actually holds his position until everyone has gone ahead, then lurches after them. "Do not look back!" the cat roars, "No matter what you hear, do not look back!"
"Not looking, got it!" Hannah pants as she runs.
Sam moans, "Why did you have to mention that? I didn't have the slightest urge to do so until now!"
"Glark!" Rosy yelps, jostled around and dangling from Peaches' mouth. Goblin shirts are pretty tough, at least!
The shrieking grows louder in the air, followed by the sounds of thousands of small jaws snapping in the air behind them. Their shadows become awash in the glow of red, the light nearly flowing itself like a great wave of blood. The tunnels once again twist and turn ... and their pursuers seem relentless. There's a roar from behind the group, then a thundering metallic crash and spray of sparks, followed by a disturbing sound of flesh and bone being crunched between metal and stone. "Look for a passage, any passage, that has an unstable entrance or a door," the feline behind roars, "We need a barrier!"
Hannah takes Eis' advice and looks as carefully as she can while she runs, trying to notice any tunnel that has crumbling rock lying around.
The minstrel runs as fast as he can, spurred on by desperation. It appears to be a reflex.
Envoy says, "That was Rosy.."
The group barrels down the passageways. Its near impossible to see much of anything given they're running for their lives. Hannah finds herself occupied enough with just keeping her footing. Rosy is challenged with breathing, much less locating anything. It's Peaches which notices that ahead the passage continues on and splits to the right ... and the right passage might have a pair of doors on still functional hinges at that. A few seconds later, Sam notices the same possible doorway.
Having no way to really tell anyone to try the right passage, Peaches does the only thing she can. She twists her head, and throws the doglin towards the doors.
"Auuugh!" Rosy yells once she catches her breath.
the poor doglin goes flying through the air, impacting on the doors with her arms and legs. Good thing for her the doors were not barred. They swing open into a side passage and the doglin goes tumbling down the new hallway!
All the noise is enough to get Hannah's attention away from her feet! "Rosy found a passage with doors! This way!" she calls to the others.
Sam gasps, "Good job, Rosy!" and dives through the doors, trying to roll into a position where he can push the doors shut. Er, help push the doors shut. Yes, that's it.
Peaches would probably sigh, if horses could while running.
No sooner has all of the group passed through the doorway, then Eis leaps through. He flies over their heads, then comes crashing down to the floor past them in a rather ungraceful shower of sparks as he slides. "Close the doors ... hurry, the feline rumbles, his chest heaving beneath his armor.
Peaches pushes one closed after she enters.
Hannah takes charge of the other door, alongside Sam.
The doors meet at the center with a thunderous boom. They are closed for only a second before Peaches, Sam, and Hannah feel something slam into the door, nearly knocking them off their feet and the doors off their hinges. The doors groan and press back against them; it's like trying to hold back a flood!
Peaches whinnies and throws her full weight against the doors, trying to hold them closed so the others can find a way to bar them.
"Ugh.. ow," Rosy notes as she gets to her feet and readjusts her shirt.
Sam checks the doors to see if they have racks for a bar. "Rosy, we need something to block the doors!"
"Ah!" Rosy says, knowing that the first place to look for anything important is.. under the cat! She spots the wooden bar next to Eis and drags it over to the others.
Hannah takes one end of the bar and tries to lift it.
Sam grabs the other end while Peaches has the door blocked.
Hannah finds the bar is heavy enough, perhaps twenty pounds, but not impossible to lift. Working with Sam, the pair get the bar over the racks and let go. It falls into place with a heavy thud, securing the door. All around the edges of the door red light shines through. It flicks and dances like mad, as if thousands of angry wings were trying to get to them.
The Knightsteed does not seem inclined to ease back from leaning against the door just yet.
Once this is done, Hannah gasps for breath and asks, "Is everyone all right?"
"Have you seen my cool? I think I left it back before the bridge," Sam groans.
"I think I will never get the tooth marks out of my collar without an iron," Rosy laments.
Hannah gives the minstrel one of her lop-sided smiles. "Don't feel too bad, I left my dignity back in the cave of traps."
Peaches admits to nothing, but does shift her glamour back to her normal 'enhanced' appearance.
"I will live," Eis rumbles as the cat tries to push himself back to his feet. His armor is dented in several places and there are dozens of bloody smears on the armor as well, presumably where he used his body to crush some of the creatures against the walls.
The minstrel laughs. "Oh, that I lost a long, long time ago. So what is an Ombra and why aren't you supposed to look back at 'em?"
"Do you really wish to see a swarm of teeth, eyes, and wings that desire nothing more than to rend the flesh from your bones while you scream in agony?" Eis asks as he sits back against the stone wall. He pulls off the helmet that frames his head, brow, and jaws, and sets it on the floor beside himself. "They live deep in the earth and anyplace a swarm takes hold, every other living thing is consumed. We are lucky to have survived."
"How deep do these caverns go?" Rosy has to ask.
"Huh - dare I hope that a little of Thomas' God-given luck has worn off on us?" Hannah asks lightly, trying to lift the mood just a little. She glances at Sam.
"I have no idea," Eis rumbles, then rolls his broad shoulders in a shrug. "And I have no desire to find out."
Hannah now sits down near the great cat and takes out her map of the tunnels, hoping to get an idea of how close or far they may be from their goal.
Sam grins. "I've always suspected Tom of having made a pact with certain supernatural agencies... Along the lines of 'Do you really want me hanging out in your backyard?'"
"Wow, the Lord Explorer could really be that annoying?" Rosy asks in awe.
Hannah finds that her map is lacking. Or at least it seems to be lacking, when she goes over it again. There are several points on it where they could be now, but she cannot be certain about any of them. Two of them still can get them to where they want to go; the third goes deeper. Decent enough odds, one can suppose, of being in one of the two better passages. She won't be able to tell more without going further.
Hannah sighs and packs the map away again. "Well then, the good news is that we haven't been eaten alive just yet. The bad news is that we do have to go deeper into these tunnels for me to figure out exactly where we are in this maze."
Peaches makes an unhappy noise at the thought of going deeper.
"Maybe we'll find rats!" Rosy says hopefully.
Hannah rises and pats the Knightsteed comfortingly.
Sam looks over Hannah's shoulders at the map, then nods. "We did kind of get all helter-skelter back there," the aged minstrel agrees. "Just trust your instincts though. And whatever bit of Tom's luck you managed to sneak off him."
"How many huge caverns can there be on those maps?" Rosy has to ask.
"At least we do not have to open those doors," Eis rumbles and waves his hand in the direction away from the doors where a passage heads back into darkness. "I recommend we take a short rest, then head on."
Hannah nods to Sam, then tells Rosy, "There are about six large caverns shown on the maps, actually."
"How long will they keep trying to get through?" Rosy asks, eyeing the glowing edges of the doors. "And.. uh.. how long would it actually take them to chew through the doors?"
"Oh, finding the cavern isn't the problem," the minstrel explains to Rosy, sitting down by her. "Finding where we went after the cavern, that's trickier. I wasn't paying too much attention to how many ways the tunnel turned or which fork we took, were you?"
"It was all a blur to me, and then a splat," Rosy explains.
Sam nods wisely. "You'll see there's no place on the map marked 'Rosy Splatted Here'."
Hannah has to laugh at this. "Truly!"
"I don't intend on waiting around long enough to determine how long the door will hold," Eis comments to the doglin. "Nor should you."
"Let's go then!" Rosy says, and starts sniffing around for a promising exit.
Sam eyes the door. "I'd play something for my captive audience, but I'm pretty sure they'd want more than another round by the time my set was done. More like an arm and a leg."
"Well, I'm all for leaving before that happens," Hannah comments. "We might need someone else's lantern to help light the way, though. I don't think Rosy was able to hold onto mine."
"Are you kidding?" Rosy asks. "I felt like a rag doll."
Peaches rolls her eyes.
Eis grabs his helmet, then eases it back onto his head. "the only way out is through, I believe the phrase goes," the cat rumbles and rolls back to all fours. He offers his foreleg to Hannah then gives her a questioning look.
Hannah hides her smile at the Knightsteed's expression and walks toward Eis and the darkened tunnel. "Perhaps I should walk a while? Just to give you a rest?"
"I'd like to walk too," Rosy notes. "Had my feet off the ground too much lately."
"As you like," the cat rumbles as he lowers his foreleg, "Onward, then." The cat then heads into the darkness before them.
"I think he likes you," Rosy asides to Hannah.
Hannah blinks. "Ah...maybe. I guess! Err...let's just go this way, shall we?" Then she strides off in the great cat's wake, looking flustered.
More hours pass as the group winds through the twisty, dark, passages. The rough stone walls give way to cut stone and mortar and the group realizes they are once more ascending. After a quick consult of her map, Hannah can now tell their luck has held and they fled down one of the passageways that would lead to their destination. So onward they go.
The air grows cooler as they must be approaching the surface of the mountain. Instead of drips of water, they begin finding icicles. The ice makes the next bit slower going, but at least no more unpleasant surprises seem to await them. In fact, they get a new warning
"Milady," rasps an icy and reptilian voice far ahead and muffled as if behind a doorahead, "The fey we were tracking have disappeared. What little evidence we found implies either they allied with the cats or were devoured by them."
"Indeed?" comes an icy, and distinctively feminine reply, "I do so hope they were not devoured. My gallery needs more to fill it. The goblin was an amusement to be sure but he lacks the grandeur that I deserve. He is a mere speck in my precious things. A cat of legend, a woman of legend and a goblin? Dear me, it simply won't do. I want that Lord's Daughter as well. I am sure he would trade himself for her, don't you? And what could be more fitting for me then to have a Lord in my collection? Nothing save the King himself; and that is only a matter of time"
"She didn't mention collecting Knightsteeds," Rosy says, smiling to Peaches, who just tosses her mane.
Minstrel Sam sulks.
Hannah's expression grows hard and grim upon overhearing this. "I have a feeling that we may get the opportunity to rescue more people than we bargained for," she whispers to the others. "And I'm certainly not going to let this female take me to get to Thomas! Let's proceed, but don't let your attention waver, all right? Everything may depend on the little details now."