Tegus: and the Shards of Solaster

Chapter 15: Towards the Dwarf City

Tegus sat to the side watching as Razahir hung his head between his legs. The digging spider machine wasn’t the smoothest of rides. However, Norsewind was sat next to Razahir and was having the time of his life.

“WOOHOO, this is amazing!” he yelled with his hands in the air.

He then heartedly slapped Razahir on the back which really didn’t help to the motion sickness.

The machine clunked and ground as it carved its way through rock and dirt. They must have travelled half the journey in a few hours, but suddenly they heard a crack and hiss, and the spider stopped.

“Thank the night stars it’s stopped.” Razahir said lifting his head.

Tegus and Norsewind laughed at him. Tegus went over to the door and turned the huge crank to release the hatch. He hopped out, followed by Norsewind and Razahir.

“We appear to be stuck. That claw is stuck on that huge rock.” Tegus looked at it with the others.

As they looked at it, it kicked into action and the spider started back up. The trio raced to the hatch. They jumped in and slammed the hatch shut as the spider machine was pulled along by the rock.

“What’s going’ on?” demanded Norsewind.

“No idea but hold on!” Tegus instructed.

“You should be fine Norse, having a low centre of gravity and all.” Razahir joked.

“I’ll show you a low centre of gravity!” Norsewind stood up, ready to punch Razahir but was flung back down as the spider was swung upside down.

They all held on as they felt the spider spinning quicker and quicker. Razahir looked more like an elf than ever as his skin had gone completely white with feeling sick. The spider somehow stopped right-side up but with plenty of dents, which consumed their current occupied space.

Razahir was retching about to be sick.

“Don’t do it half elf, or I’ll...” Norsewind started until he was interrupted by Razahir throwing up all over the dwarf’s beard.

“I feel much better now.” Razahir let them know as Norsewind looked at him in disgust.

“Sorry Norse I really didn’t mean to” Razahir apologised and Tegus sat in the corner and just burst into laughter, as he did, Razahir let out a chuckle and then even Norsewind also smiled and before they realised, they all were laughing about it. Norsewind was using a rag and a water flask to clean his beard and kept picking chunks out.

The group got themselves together and Tegus said, “right, time to see what that was.”

“Careful lad. We are in treacherous grounds at the moment” Norsewind warned drying his beard.

Tegus opened the hatch with Razahir following and Norsewind jumping out after finishing getting dry.

They looked up and realised they were in a giant underground cave. It must have been the size of any great cathedral. There were glowing crystals covering all the walls, floor and ceiling. They gave off enough light that the group could see clearly.

“How beautiful.” Razahir spoke while the others looked on.

“I didn’t think that was a word, I would ever hear you say Razahir.” Tegus smiled and felt he didn’t know Razahir as much as he thought.

All of a sudden, they heard a giant Crunch and an horrific howl followed by a deep growling voice.

“You - no - take - crystals!” The voice bellowed at them.

Before they could answer back a giant of an earth elemental came at them. Norsewind had seen Rock elementals before but none even half the size of this. It was as big as a cottage and charging right for them.

“Move!” Tegus ordered as the monster dragged a landslide with it.

Norsewind flung himself to the side and rolled to safety.

Tegus sprinted to the opposite side, and Razahir jumped high out of the way.

Despite its size, the companions misjudged its speed and manoeuvrability. It turned for Norsewind, and all Tegus saw were several boulders swallow him between them. Razahir landed on its back as it stopped moving.

Razahir had drawn a blade to each hand and was frantically swinging at what appeared to be its head trying to get it to stop. Razahir had seen the mammoth creature swallow one of his new friends, and this had stopped him thinking rationally and therefore, had not seen the rocks grow silently behind him. They appeared to fall on Razahir and push him inside the rock beast and before Tegus knew it, Razahir too had gone.

The creature having devoured two of Tegus’ companions now turned its attention to him.

The rocks came crashing on as the elements themselves were rushing for Tegus. This time he did not move.

As the behemoth charged he lifted his hand and yelled “Wah Kater Rood Fla.”

As he did a huge burst of water shot out of his hand and started to push back the walking earthquake. However, the monster was stronger and the water merely slowed it. It roared aloud. Tegus knew his magic alone was not enough to stop this titan. He reached deep into his robe and pulled out the Shard. Within a second of closing his eyes he was holding the Shard, and the power joined his own. His robes turned white, and his eyes glowed white once again with the pure power.

Tegus let the stream of water fade away, and the behemoth came bounding forward at a full speed again. Tegus was calm watching it get closer and closer. It was now only several feet away. He clapped his hands together and gestured them into the air, and his eyes followed them.

The motion was followed by a geyser spurting from the ground and lifting the Golem to a floating position on the top of it where it could not do anything.

Tegus’ wings reappeared, and he took flight to hover next to the stone beast who was turning around from the water pressure but other than that could not move. Tegus focused his hands together and then started to pull them apart, his mind and hand movements now linked to the helpless behemoth.

Tegus focused and even with his bountiful magic this seemed tricky, but he managed to pull the rocks apart on top of the water and threw them to the ground when they were separate.

There sat Norsewind and Razahir both wet, mucky and a little bruised.

“Well Razahir, never realised you cared so much for me.” Norsewind looked at him and laughed.

Razahir pulled a stone from his mouth and said, “Well I think that’s the one I owe you for throwing up in your beard.”

The two looked at each other and laughed. Tegus at present had control of the elemental and the Geyser slowly subsided to rest Tegus’ companions down. The rocks were still spread around them.

“Well what do we do at this moment in time? Tegus you can’t just stay there holding that?” Razahir pointed out.

“I don’t think I need to, not that our little friend now realizes we wish him no harm and do not want his crystals” Tegus commented as he let the remaining rocks fall down and let his magic subside.

He was himself within a moment.

“Little friend?” Norsewind was confused, normally that’s what they called him, much to his discomfort. “Do you mean me?” he asked muddled.

Tegus let out a laugh with Razahir, “No, him” He pointed to a small heap of pebbles.

“Pebbles?” Norsewind looked down at a collection of about 12 perfectly shaped grey peoples.

“You can call me that if you wish, seems fitting.” The small stones responded, and as they did they all magically connected to form a humanoid shape that stood no bigger than a lantern.

Norsewind and Razahir looked on it in amazement. Tegus knew what was going on and thought it best to explain to his companions who, and better yet, what Pebbles was.

“This is Pebbles, or that’s what we seem to have named him. He lives in this cave, and these are his crystals that he has spent centuries collecting. He thought we were trying to take them away since our machine dislodged one. So in his defence he used his power to control the earth to make the stones come to life and hide within it to fight us.”

Tegus let the other two absorb the information.

“And you know this how?” Razahir questioned.

“He told me as I pulled the stone apart, I heard him in my thoughts. He asked me not to crush, or otherwise kill him or steal his crystals and when I explained we didn’t want them. He apologised, and here we are” Tegus gestured to Pebbles.

Norsewind slumped down to his knees to get a better look at the tidy humanoid rock creature. He poked it with his fat little dwarf hand.

Norsewind grinned and Pebbles jumped onto his arm and up to his shoulder. The two had an instant earthly bond.

Razahir just watched and absorbed all the information, but then spoke as Norsewind seemed to be communicating with it, “You can understand it?”

“Aye, you can’t?” Norsewind seemed puzzled.

Tegus looked over to Razahir, “I can, maybe it’s because we are magically in tune with our world and because Pebbles is a part of the world itself, we can understand him, and you cannot?” Tegus gave a sort of explanation to Razahir.

“Fair enough, seems logical. However, if you can talk to him, ask him how the heck we carry on now he pretty much destroyed our transport.” Razahir was thinking more on the scale of getting out of here as possible opposed to being amazed by Pebbles; even if he was the first of his kind to be discovered as far as any of them knew.

Before Razahir had finished his mini moan Pebbles was doing some kind of dance and was making a clacking noise with two of the stones on his forearms. Norsewind looked at his shoulder in amazement, and Tegus smiled.

The rock in front of them rose out of the ground and took the form of what can only be described as a small rowboat, big enough for the three and their supplies.

Norsewind jumped in along with Tegus.

Razahir looked on at the stone boat; he did not see how this would help and was even less convinced that it had appeared out of the ground itself but followed the others trusting their judgement.

Once all three were in Pebbles jumped onto the front of the little stone rowboat and sat crossed legged on the edge and reached his petite stone arms outwards, he began to chant and sway left and right but only Tegus and Norsewind heard him, Razahir just looked at him in amazement. The Stone boat seemed to move as if on water, it was guided by Pebbles and the stone below the boat acted like, and looked like, water as they passed. Once they were beyond where they were the ground re-solidified behind them, Razahir, along with Tegus and Norsewind was very impressed by Pebbles abilities.

The further they went on the faster they got and that meant they were well on their way to see the dwarfs.