Chapter 11 - Marmothi

We are huddled up in a cave together, getting some rest while hiding from the wolves. Lara has stuck her staff in the ground, and the roots have grown a bunch of small glowing nodules that illuminate the cavern. Ruby is sleeping comfortably on my lap. Her hair is getting longer now, and her horns are starting to grow out. One of the furry people has been eyeing her nervously, but each time he does so, Lara shoots him a chastening glare.

The silence is killing me, so I finally decide to start asking questions.

“So who are you people? Why were you being attacked by so many wolves? Do you live out here in the mountains?”

“Wait, you don’t know?” Lara asks.

“I knew it! She’s not the hero from Lorencia. She’s just some kid!” Yosh says.

“I’m definitely not from Lorencia. That’s where I’m trying to go. I’m from south of here,” I say.

“A traveller then,” Arvel says. “It’s been years since we’ve seen one. Not many take this route.”

“Yeah, I was told not to, but I couldn’t stay in Englevard for a second longer.”

“Did something happen in Englevard?” Arvel asks.

“Everything south of the mountains has become a rotting wasteland. I think it spans at least the whole northern territory. There’s nothing left,” I explain.

“What?! Since when?” Lara says.

“There’s a new king. We rebelled. He punished us by cursing our land.”

I shudder at the memories.

“I’m sorry. That must have been awful. At least we still have a someplace to go,” Lara says.

“Yeah, where are you all going now?” I ask.

“We’re headed the Great Burrow of course! You should come with us!” Lara says.

“Lara, don’t tell me you actually intend to bring outsiders into the Great Burrow,” says the one who’s scared of Ruby.

“They saved our lives, Sergus!” Lara says.

“The beastkin saved us. Her so-called sister—”

“Not another word, Sergus. Where is your gratitude? You besmirch the honor of the Marmothi,” Arvel says.

“You must be tired after traveling so far, taking care of your sister all by yourself,” Lara says. “How about you stay with us for a little while? Doesn’t a bed and some hot food sound nice?”

For a moment, I almost can’t breathe. I inhale sharply, and then my tears suddenly come out.

“Do you have bread?” I ask.

“We have yamba. It’s similar,” she says.

“Yes. Please.”

I don’t know how, but I end up sobbing into Lara’s fur for a while. She rubs my back.

It’s so soft and warm.

I made it.

There’s still a knot in my stomach though, a feeling that something will go horribly wrong.

Nothing has been easy for so long. Maybe I’m just broken. Maybe I can’t feel safe anymore.

But I have to know.

“Why were all those wolves chasing you?”

Lara hesitates to answer. She takes a deep breath. “We are at war.”

“With who?” I ask.

“The Jotnar,” she says.

“Jotnar?”

“Frost giants,” Arvel says. “It’s not a situation too different from your own. Our people were allies long ago. Then a spiteful, crippled prince attained great power. He murdered his father, seized the throne, ruled over his people with an iron fist, and became the unspeakable king. Now, he unceasingly pursues a heinous campaign of extermination.”

“Is the Great Burrow safe?” I ask.

“The safest,” Lara says.

“Perhaps it will not be, if we bring a devil into our midst. If the unspeakable king locates the Great Burrow, it could be the end of us all,” Sergus says.

“How can an infant betray us, Sergus?” Lara says.

“An infant with the blood of the Old Gods!”

I glare at Sergus. “You’re like the harpies.”

“Excuse me?” He says.

“They also said Ruby and I couldn’t be sisters. They tried to take her away from me.”

He winces. “I have nothing against you. You have to understand, I must prioritize the survival of my people above all else.”

“Oh yes, I understand,” I say. “It’s painful when people betray you, and trusting people is risky. I’m scared of you too. I’m scared that there will be more people like you in the Great Burrow. I’m scared they’re going to hurt Ruby.”

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“I won’t let that happen,” Lara interjects.

“But I’m going to trust you anyway,” I say. “Because if Ruby and I can’t even trust people who have shown us kindness, then we can’t trust anyone.”

“Well said,” Arvel says.

“I’m sorry,” Sergus says slowly. He takes a deep breath. “I might have misjudged you.”

I see them already, nascent threads of fate forming, connecting me to the Marmothi. For better or worse, their destiny is my destiny. Their safety is my safety. Their pain is my pain.

“Not the hero we sent for, but perhaps the one we prayed for,” Lara mutters, quietly enough that perhaps she thought I couldn’t hear.

Over the next few weeks, we travel towards the Great Burrow. For long stretches of the journey we travel underground, so we’re harder to follow. Apparently the unspeakable king sometimes uses harpies as spies. Fortunately though, the Marmothi are able to effortlessly navigate the labyrinthine caves under the mountains.

I learn that Lara has a very high status among the Marmothi. She is a priestess, and a potential successor for the position of high priest, their supreme religious authority. The other Marmothi here are all her bodyguards. They happened to be visiting another burrow when it was attacked by the unspeakable king’s forces. Their defenses fell, and monsters swarmed the city.

“Why do you call him the unspeakable king? It seems like you speak about him plenty,” I say on one of the rare nights we sit under a starry sky.

“His name has power. To speak it is to invite his rule upon you,” Arvel says.

“Only the high priest is powerful enough to speak it safely,” Lara says. “Many of the younger Marmothi do not even know it. It’s better that way.”

My stomach churns. Just speaking his name is that dangerous? I don’t like it at all.

“Who is winning the war?” I ask.

The sound of icy wind on the rocks is my answer.

“At best we can maintain a standstill until aid arrives from Lorencia. They have promised to send a hero who will slay the unspeakable king,” Arvel says.

“But the hero hasn’t come,” I surmise.

“He will,” Yosh says.

“How long has it been?” I ask.

Lara frowns, looking down at the ground. “Twelve years now.”

My eyes go wide. They’ve been waiting longer than my whole life.

“I was one of the diplomats who travelled to Lorencia,” Lara says. “It’s a long journey. It took us several years to make the trip. It’s possible the hero just hasn’t reached us yet.”

“Why didn’t they just send the hero on the way back with you?”

“They said it would take a year or two to enlist the help of someone powerful enough. They had several potential options, and they promised to get at least one of them. Looking back on it all, we should have stayed in Lorencia until the hero was ready. Back then, we were all so happy about the good news, we wanted to hurry back home and tell everyone.”

I hug my knees to my chest. It’s so sad. They had so much hope, but no-one is coming at all.

Unless.

No. That’d be ridiculous. He was powerful though, and it would explain why he was out here.

“Was someone named Zalorian one of the options?”

“The name rings a bell. Why?”

“He was a powerful mage. I met him in the dungeon of the harpy castle. We escaped together, but I think he might have died fighting the harpy queen.”

“A man who would fall against that eye-gouging witch would not be capable of facing the unspeakable king regardless,” Arvel says.

“What? But she was so strong! Is the unspeakable king really that powerful?”

“It is said that when he speaks a word, the world itself makes it so. No Marmothi has seen his face and lived, not since he fought high priest Gorentus as a child,” Arvel says.

“He’s made out of giant snakes!” Yosh says.

“I’d bet that even his top subordinates could chew that harpy queen and spit her back out,” Arvel says.

“Gods,” I say, the scale of the problem slowly dawning on me.

It’s like the rot, an enemy so unstoppable it’s hard to even imagine how to begin.

“Can you run away?”

“Some have considered it,” Lara says. “But for now the Great Burrow remains as safe as ever. It is hidden through the high priest’s magic. It’s only the other burrows that are in danger of being besieged by the unspeakable king’s army.”

Our journey continues for another month. The caves are infested with monsters, even more so than the surface, but the warriors are more than capable of dealing with them.

I watch Arvel smash the head of an ice salamander. Meanwhile, the others are all holding off a horde of giant centipedes.

My job is to heal people of poison when they get bit by the centipedes, but none of them have gotten bit for days. I’m feeling kind of restless, so I decide to go kill some monsters myself.

I draw my sword, imbue it with moonlight, and dash into the fray. I slash open a centipede.

“Ha! Ayla! With a shoddy sword like that, you’re barely any help at all!” Arvel teases.

“I worked really hard to make this!” I protest.

“So you’re telling me your sword was made by a little kid? That explains it.”

“Jerk! I saved your butt, remember?” I cut apart a few more centipedes.

“I don’t recall you using your sword at all when you saved my butt. Otherwise your daring rescue would have failed no doubt!”

“Stop teasing her, Arvel. You’re being a bit mean,” Lara says.

“Yeah!” I say.

Arvel laughs. “Sorry, sorry.” He swings his hammer, smashing a dozen centipedes in a single thunderous blow.

After the battle, it turns out Sergus did actually get bit while I was bantering with Arvel. At least the poison of the centipedes isn’t that lethal. He’s fine.

For food, the Marmothi scavenge for grubs and roots under rocks. They don’t like to eat monster meat. It won’t make them transform into monsters, because their beastkin blood protects them, but they say it will make them sick. I’m still eating it though. I don’t have to worry about poisoning myself because of my magic, and I’d rather not take a share of their hard-earned food if I don’t have to.

“Just try it,” Lara says, offering me a grub.

“Is it really that good?” I ask, happily munching on a strip of lightning-cooked ice salamander.

“Better than whatever it is you’re eating.”

“Fine. Aaaah,” I say, and she feeds me the grub. I chew. It tastes nutty. “Yeah pretty good.”

“You know, I just realized, I never properly said thank you after you saved us. We were all so preoccupied with running away that it slipped my mind.”

“It’s no big deal.”

“Yes it is. You risked your life, your sisters life, for us. Is there anything you want? I could get you some nice things. I’m a priestess after all.”

I smile. “All I want is friends and food.”

She hugs me. “Oh, you precious thing. You’ve been through so much haven’t you? Everything is going to be better now, I promise. It won’t be long now. We’re almost there.”

That night, we laugh and chat. Sergus has completely warmed up to Ruby over the last couple of months. Right now she’s sitting on his head, which I’m grateful for, because she has developed a habit of running off into the caves. It has caused trouble to no end.

The next few days of travel through the caves leads us to an inconspicuous dead end.

“We’re finally here!” Lara says.

“What do you mean? Is this where we’re setting up camp for the night?” I ask.

“Nope, watch,” Yosh says.

Lara touches her staff to the wall, and the stone melts away like water, revealing an gate of black metal, covered in various runes. The doors slowly swing open, revealing a small room.

The Marmothi all crowd into the dark metal box. I follow hesitantly.

The doors slam shut behind us.

“What is this?” I ask.

The box jostles, there’s a scraping noise, and then suddenly I feel lighter.

“Is it moving downward?”

“Yup,” Lara says.

“We’re already so deep, and now we’re going even deeper?”

There is an excited silence, punctuated only by the occasional loud scrape of stone against the outside of the metal box. After what feels like forever, I start feeling heavier as the box slows.

It stops with a crunch, the doors open, and I am blinded by warm firelight.

Lara grins. “Welcome to the Great Burrow, Ayla.”