Chapter 72: Dungeon Dive, part 1

Cautiously, Alcar took his first steps onto the long wooden suspension bridge. Brutus had already gone around ten yards forward onto the swaying bridge, and had then paused to look back at his master. Ubund was already more than a third of the way across.

The bridge lurched beneath them all, and Alcar stopped, gripping its sides. Clenching his teeth, he glanced behind. The rocky shelf that they had been standing on was shallow, and the wind caught his robes repeatedly. The same wind, of course, was causing the bridge to sway, and was whistling through its wooden slats.

He then took a step back again, and then another, gripping the bridge post, and looked down at the slow, lazy, orange-glowing lava beneath them,

“I’m just not good with this, man,” Alcar called out to Ubund. “Isn’t there another way to get over?”

But Ubund kept walking, and did not answer.

“Fuck. Uh... just wait there, Brutus. Good boy.”

Reaching into his robes, Alcar pulled out the book by Gorba Longtongue, and flicked to the page that listed certain enchantments. There were still two that he hadn’t tried, and if there was something resembling a flying spell, well... now would be a very good time to find out about it.

His eyes scanned down the page.

“Okay. Let’s find another test subject.”

Alcar looked around him, but currently he couldn’t see any bugs or flies on which to try out the enchantments.

He instead stooped and picked up a pebble. Holding this between his thumb and forefinger, he focused his attention keenly.

“Rac sin trimannia.”

The transformation was immediate; the pebble was now surrounded by a flickering shield-like sphere of light, and Alcar dropped it with a yelp, feeling a stab of electrical charge run through his hand. The pebble bounced at his feet and then fell towards the edge, whereupon it dropped down into the chasm. Alcar tried to follow its descent to see whether the magical shield would offer some protection against the lava, but soon the tiny stone was soon out of sight.

“Damn it.”

Now his hand hurt, and he had only one enchantment left to try.

He selected another pebble, raised it in the same way, then staggered backwards as another large gust of wind blasted into him, catching his robes and causing him to stagger forward. He crouched against it for a moment, hearing Brutus howl mournfully as the bridge swayed even more aggressively than usual.

Then, gripping the bridge post again, Alcar lifted the second pebble in front of his face and uttered the words: “Parohk al duphinoise!”

This time, nothing appeared to happen. Had he said it wrong, or run out of magical energy already? If the latter was true, then it had all been an expensive experiment.

He flung the pebble aside in disgust, and then did a double take. The pebble, rather than pinging off the rock face behind him, was floating slowly through the air. As Alcar watched, it formed a perfect arc before landing gently. Its entire movement had been in slow motion, but everything else around was moving normally.

“Damn,” Alcar muttered, but this time, a grin was spreading across his face. “If I used that on myself to slow my fall...”

There was still the issue of landing in lava, he immediately realized. But perhaps – with a bit of luck – the electrical shield magic could help with that issue, too.

If things came to that.

Feeling considerably more sure of himself, Alcar strode out onto the bridge, then took Brutus by the collar.

“I’ve got you, boy.”

***

As it happened, however, any further use of Alcar’s newly found enchantments would have to wait, for he was able to proceed across the swaying suspension bridge without major incident. On the other side, where the far end of the bridge was anchored onto a much deeper stone ledge, Ubund was waiting, seated on an outcropping of rock, and tapping his fingers between his legs impatiently.

“Almost went without you, wizard.”

“That would have been a mistake, guide. And I’m a sorcerer, not a wizard.”

“Hmm.”

Ubund rose and led the way to the left this time, where the ledge soon gave way to a very tall and shallow cave. Above, bats were circling, perhaps disturbed by the new arrival, but the cave itself appeared unoccupied.

“Not many go this way,” said Ubund, without pointing or otherwise clarifying what he meant, “but the passageway beyond is out target.”

Alcar peered into the shallow cave, and could make out a single archway at the back of the chamber. “Okay. Then lead on.”

“Hmm.” Ubund looked Alcar up and down, and then glanced down at Brutus. “In the right order. You and the dog go first.”

“Oh... kay...” replied Alcar slowly.

“It’s a slope down. You will see. Be careful. Hold your knife, and give me the arrows.”

Alcar shook his head. “You still have a couple of arrows left. I’m going to give these to Olynka.”

Ubund looked away, and then grunted. “Then go, sorcerer.”

“Right.”

Alcar hurried into the cave, with Brutus just behind him. Taking the guide’s advice, he pulled out the knife that he had extracted from the slain lizardwoman. It was clearly sharp and strong, and there was, as yet, no need for torchlight. He swapped it to his stronger hand, holding the staff with the other.

At the archway he paused. Ubund was right; immediately below was a very sharp drop – a steep passageway which was not far from a vertical pit. It might be possible to slide down, but it would be uncomfortable. The passageway was also long; Alcar couldn’t see the bottom, but from its shape, he was fairly sure that it gradually flattened out.

It had to, right?

Alcar briefly considered using the slowing incantation that he had recently tried on one of the pebbles, and then dismissed the idea. If Ubund considered this a viable way ahead, then surely such things weren’t necessary.

No need to waste his limited power.

Brutus was another matter, though. Could the dog be protected by casting the electrical shield enchantment? Perhaps bouncing down within some kind of big protective sphere?

Alcar wasn’t sure. And he didn’t want to take risks with his faithful hound – particularly not with magic that was as yet largely unexplored.

What other options were there?

It would be hard for him to hold onto the dog – his hands were already full – and he was sure that Brutus couldn’t walk down such a steep slope. All in all, it felt likely that one of them would hinder the other, causing each other to fall and get injured, if they moved together.

And remembering the recent time when Brutus had landed on top of him upon entering the vastly long tunnel, Alcar could already see why Ubund didn’t want to be the one to go first.

“I’m going to try something, boy,” said Alcar at last, crouching and placing down his staff, and then fondling the dog’s ears with a smile. “Be patient, and trust me. We did this before – I am pretty sure I can get it to go in the other direction.”

Alcar carefully chewed another mouthful of the razor root, and then spoke the words, “Rac al sintreta.”

He saw the dog’s body begin to grow. But this time, as he had hoped, he was able to exert more control over the process. It was just like the flame in the palm of his hand. And rather like turning down a dial, he was able to bring Brutus back down to his normal size, and then smaller. The dog was shrinking – to the size of a cat, and then to the size of a rat, and then a mouse.

“That will do,” murmured Alcar, picking up the minescule dog, and stroking him gently with one finger. Brutus was giving tiny, almost inaudible yaps, but he calmed as Alcar stroked his back.

At first Alcar had thought of securing Brutus in his pocket. But now, as he looked down, he realized that the dog could easily be bashed against the side of the passage if he was to try that.

Thinking hard, Alcar pulled one of the empty jars from an inner pocket of his robes. Without hesitation, he thrust the sturdy knife through the top of the jar to make an air hole, placed Brutus inside, added some of the paper from one of the bags of meaty strips, and then put the lid on. “That will hold you,” he muttered, hoping the dog would stay calm as he placed the jar back carefully into the deepest pocket of his robes.

“Now, for my descent,” said Alcar, briefly glancing around at Ubund, and then lowering his legs down so that he was sitting on the edge of the slope.