Chapter 26 #2
‘You think taking the key will change anything?’ M?ot grinned, bloody saliva bubbling on his lips. ‘Tick, tock… Tick, tock… Your time is up, and fire will cleanse us all.’
‘You gutless swine. Your people still live in the mountain. Why did you activate the heart?’ Tova snarled, turning towards me. ‘Take your men and go. Save as many as you can. Please.’
He dropped M?ot. Horror filled my veins when the king laughed, even as his former prisoners began ripping him apart. Bile rose in my throat. I thought I’d seen it all, but the savagery of people who’d lost everything to his madness threatened to turn my stomach.
‘Tell me what’s happening,’ I asked, turning to Tova while gesturing to my men to abandon the mine.
‘There’s a mechanism our ancestors made to protect the secrets of Wiosna.
If I don’t stop it in time, the volcano will awaken, killing us all,’ he said, running past me and disappearing into a passageway hidden behind the dais.
I chased after him, ignoring the shouts of my men and cursing up a storm.
I never thought I’d have trouble keeping up with the dwarf, but my size worked against me in the tight corridors, and when he finally stopped in front of a small, inconspicuous door, I was pissed.
Tova tried key after key, his hands trembling so much that he dropped them on the floor. His gaze darted over the row of stones on the wall. ‘If I push the wrong one, a trap will block the entrance,’ he muttered.
‘We don’t have time for this,’ I said, kicking the door. The hardwood shuddered but held, and Tova gave me an annoyed look before pointing to the space right under the lock.
‘The frame is reinforced with steel. You need to kick beneath the lock.’
Pain spread up my thigh when I did what he asked, but the wood creaked, and after we took turns kicking it, the lock bent inwards, and we forced our way inside.
I followed Tova, hobbling into the darkness.
Except for a dull red glow flickering in the distance, there was barely any light, but I kept going, placing a hand on the wall for guidance.
The tunnel ended in a large cavern, where the red afterglow was much stronger.
It was a menacing sight. I swore I was staring into Veles’ cauldron, with its pool of lava slowly churning at the far end.
The cave was hotter than a dragon’s belly, filled with benches and workstations.
On the floor and on the benches, scattered like toys, were half-finished projects and precious artefacts, a testament to dwarven ingenuity.
‘Here!’ Tova shouted, dragging my attention from the burning pool. ‘Help me with this before the chain melts.’ He stood by a crane, or at least I assumed it was a crane because the strange construct was attached to a boulder blocking a fissure in the wall.
‘Help you how?’ I asked, noticing the lava had risen, almost spilling over.
‘Turn the chain wheel while I keep the mechanism open. Hurry up, or the pressure will become too much.’ Tova was frantic, pushing another key into the crane’s heart while I gripped the wheel.
M?ot’s laughter reverberated in my mind.
He knew it was almost impossible to shift the boulder once it was in the lava, but still, I tried.
My thoughts drifted to the villages decimated by the wraiths, the diseased dwarves who still believed their king, and my Viper’s tears when she told me M?ot’s treatment of his people.
I couldn’t let the old bastard win.
My muscles bulged, and blood thrummed in my veins as I channelled every ounce of anger and pain into moving this bloody wheel.
Liquid fire licked at my boots, searing the leather.
‘Fuuuck!’ I screamed, a golden haze obscuring my vision.
My boots were burning, fire climbing up my legs, but I felt no pain.
What kind of man would I be if I let these people die? Could I accept Veles’ grace knowing my Sanika would mourn us both?
Wild Magic exploded from my chest at the thought of her pain.
The power I’d always denied gave me a strength I could never have imagined.
The boulder rose an inch, then another. Higher and higher it went, the half-melted chains groaning against the strain, threatening to give way and drop the granite rock back into the lava.
Without a thought, I grabbed the blazing chain, the heat burning despite my resistance. It wobbled, shifting towards the bank, then the white-hot metal gave way, and the boulder crashed down, bouncing and almost crushing me as I scrambled to the side.
I could barely breathe. My muscles were trembling as I lay on my back, gasping for air, while molten rock slowly cooled around me.
The magma returned to its slow roiling, the destructive power no longer threatening to erupt.
M?ot had truly lost, and for the first time since fighting this war, I found a semblance of peace.
It didn’t last long, though.
‘Reynard. Thank you.’ Tova’s voice was barely above a whisper. I didn’t answer, even as his footsteps approached. ‘You alright? Please tell me you’re alright.’ Tova leaned over me, frantically shaking my shoulders. ‘Motherfucker, say something. Sana’ll kill me if something happens to you!’
The sheer panic on his face sent me into a fit of laughter. My Roksana, a woman who barely reached my shoulders and whose open, innocent smile lulled so many into thinking she was a gentle soul, scared two adult men out of their boots.
‘You and me, Tova. You and me. We’re so alike, both fearing the one we love.
’ I dragged myself up, cursing when pain shot through my spine and my hands.
Those who believed the berserker felt no pain during battle never realised what he felt after.
I’d lost myself in the Wild Magic twice today, and my body was a mess of torn muscles, pulled tendons, and still-bleeding cuts.
‘Please tell me that’s the end of it. I have nothing left to give. ’
Tova’s eyebrows rose, and he pulled away with a shrug.
‘Your clothes are burned.’ He pointed down to my exposed legs, the trousers a tattered ruin, the skin dirty from soot and smudged with molten rock.
‘I thought you’d lost your mind when you stepped into the lava and grabbed the chain.
How in Svarog’s arse is that even possible? ’
‘Dragon magic,’ I answered shortly. Out of options, I reached for a scroll to cover myself when heavy footsteps echoed through the chamber.
‘Since when do you have dragon magic?’ Tova’s face was a mask of surprise before mischief took over. ‘Does Sana know?’
‘No, and you won’t tell her,’ I said, wrapping the scroll around my hips. ‘How the fuck will we explain what happened here?’
Tova smirked before pointing to the corridor we’d come from.
‘You just tell her the Beast of Dagome saved the dwarves.’ He approached the nearest table, picking through a stack of notes.
After a few moments, he smiled and stuffed them into his vest. ‘That’s what happened.
There is no need to explain the pressure, the valves, or any of the things us dwarves did to tame Wiosna Mountain.
All that matters is the War King’s courage and mercy, and that he saved us all. ’
He was so serious, putting a hand on his chest and bowing low. I couldn’t stand it. ‘Tova… I did what I had to do, but it was you who led your men to the throne room and knew how to stop the eruption.’ I smiled, coming closer. ‘I should bow to you.’
He shook his head. ‘It should’ve been done a long time ago. I let the evil of a broken mind fester. Today, I fixed my mistake. I’m relieved, but it doesn’t make me a hero.’
‘I disagree, my friend,’ I said gently, unsure how to convince him he deserved this recognition.
‘So, I’m a friend of the king now?’ he asked, tugging at his slightly singed moustache.
‘You are the brother of the queen. What do you think?’ I answered, and his eyes widened so much that his eyebrows disappeared into his hair.
‘Lada, save us; does Sana know… No, don’t tell me. Just promise I can be there when you tell her. Gods, her expression will be…’ His mood shifted, and he laughed, slapping his thigh. And just like that, I wanted to throw the annoying bastard into the lava.
It was Ivar who saved him, gasping as he entered the chamber. ‘Sire, we … What happened to your clothes?’