Linus Toria

Chapter 10

Mathieu was tense. Tenser than he had been in a long time. They had already descended the stairs and entered the corridor when a long wail resounded from upstairs. He recognized the emotion behind that sound: immense grief. It reminded him of old times when it was an almost daily occurence. But what really unsettled him was the promise that always accompanied it. The promise of vengance.

Since then his whole team had been jumping at shadows. And there were a lot of shadows in this dimly lit corridor. But he couldn't blame them as he also looked more often behind him than protocoll demanded. Everything looked normal at the back yet he couldn't shake the feeling of being followed. He hoped that was just his nerves playing a trick on him.

As the leader the rear guard position suited him best. Here he could overview the situation at the front , ensure nobody gets left behind and protect his teams from attacks from the back. Three meters across from him was Etienne and five meters in front of him Lina. Across from her was Elodie following after Manon and Gaspard. They were in a zigzag formation to avoid triggered traps affecting more than one person.

Normally, they should all have walked at the same pace so that the distance between them was constant. Yet, he started catching up to the others. Irritation spiked shortly, but now was not the time to criticize them. They had never made this sort of mistake during a mission. Why start now? Closing in on his team he saw them arguing with their newest addition in front of the first junction.

As soon as he was close enough to partake in the conversation, Manon turned towards him: „Leader! Please tell that girl that we're going to take the route that's already been spotted by us!" Manon had the bad habit of not using others' names when she got really upset.

„Why would you want to take the unexplored route?", Mathieu asked uncomprehendingly.

„No, not that one. On the left of the corridor you want to take is one more. In my experience the hidden paths are usually more worth checking out than the obvious ones", explained Lina exasperatedly.

„Are you sure you're not hallucinating? There's only a wall over there. Neither of our wizards can detect a glamour hiding something. And when they can't detect something magically it usually isn't there!", Manon replied angrily, „Even if there was a hidden corridor doesn't mean that it leads outside. On the other route Gaspard and me could already see the daylight in the distance. Therefore it's better to use our path as it defenitely leads outside. We've also removed all traps that way so it should be much safer. Leader, what do you think?"

Mathieu saw that except Gaspard all of his teammates were leaning more towards Manon's point of view. His scout seemed ready to defend Lina against Manon but Mathieu was unsure wether Gaspard really believed Lina or if he just didn't want her to be isolated in an argument. Lina looked completely serene and Mathieu didn't think she was trying to trick them but he also agreed with Manon. Why take an unknown path when they already knew one that would lead them outside?

„We will take - "

„How dare you!", a shrill voice howled from behind.

They all spun around, ready for battle. At first, they saw nothing but an empty corridor. Then a humanoid figure started running towards them. It stopped a few meters in front of Mathieu and he identified a female dwarf. She didn't even reach up to is hips heightwise and had a plaited beard that almost touched the ground. It had the same colour as her grey, unkempt hair. Her clothes were tattered and dirty and his overall impression of her wasn't really good.

It worsened as she threw herself to the ground to wail: „My son! My poor son! I always knew that nothing could rival the cruelty of you humans! But my son! How could you do that to him?! I will never forgive you! You have to die to pay for your sins!"

While crying on the ground other dwarves gathered behind her. And the noise behind himself told Mathieu that some dwarves were also coming from the junction corridors. They were surrounded. In addition to their equally unkempt appearances the new arrivals were carrying pickaxes and short swords. Ready to lynch them.

At least they thought their group to be human. Taking a look at Manon, she had yet to freak out. But she and the rest of his group had faces that mirrored his own confusion. What son? They hadn't encountered any dwarves until now!

Before they could voice their questions one more dwarf stepped to the front next to the wailing one. It was also a female but looked younger. She had almost no beard and her hair was brown instead of grey. Her clothes were in a similar state. Mathieu wanted to snort in derision as she also threw herself to the ground to cry: „My brother! My dear, dear brother! Why did you have to die so young? But don't worry; we will get revenge for you!"

Then she stood back up. Her clothes were even dirtier now. Mathieu couldn't help wonder if they had practised this whole charade before approaching them. It appeared a little rehearsed and would explain their dirty clothings. The younger dwarf glared and pointed behind him while screeching: „It's him! The blonde one! I chose him for the greatest honour but instead he betrayed my trust and killed my brother!"

Mathieu looked behind him and saw that she was pointing at Gaspard who seemed stunned by the accusation: „Me? I betrayed you? You were the one who lured me into a trap! But I didn't kill anybody! In fact, nobody of us did! Besides yourself, we didn't encounter any dwarves. Stop your groundless accusations"

His answer enraged the dwarf as her head turned redder and redder and she screamed: „Stop my groundless accusations? I was there when my brother poisened you and took you to his room! But you abomination of a human didn't die and had the nerve to attack my poor brother and kill him!"

The title she gave Gaspard hit home and Mathieu felt his team grow angry as well. Etienne unsheathed his daggers and the others also started reaching for their weapons.

„I believe she's talking about the manticore", Lina mumbled quietly, leaving them all dumbfounded. She stepped in front of Mathieu and adressed the dwarves: „We're verry sorry for causing you grief by killing you beloved brother, son and friend. We know that a simple apology probably won't cut it but please believe us when we say that we were only defending ourselves. And anybody with a little common sense will agree that that is fully within our rights. Furthermore, you did kidnap one of ours and expect us to sit by and do nothing? That's very foolish. When you make the first move, you really can't complain when your adversary retaliates"

Neither Mathieu's team nor the dwarves expected Lina to talk back reasonably and a flabbergasted silence spread. Then the older dwarf croaked: „But this blood debt has to be paid!"

„Well, what do you want?", Lina asked coolly, „And don't answer with 'your lives' because we won't give them up. Pick something else"

The older and younger dwarf thought shortly about what they could demand and Mathieu was amazed that the bloodthirsty atmosphere that was there just seconds ago had dissipated. The older dwarf had made up her mind and asked carefully: „Are you a witch?"

Lina shook her head no, pointed at Elodie and Etienne and declared: „I'm not but these two are capable wizards. If you have a wish, they should be able to grant it"