Chapter 16: The Little People

The gifts of a happy and in balance world are endless. How can you not take care of the Mother, and therefore all her children, who has taken care of you.

They all turn towards the rustling in the brush, but see nothing. When they turn back around thirty little mole-like people are staring at them. Most stand erect at no more than twenty-four marks tall. Now the Companions start to look around them and they notice that the little unknowns have them surrounded, and even more are coming out of the mounds that are all over this area.

At least now they know what the mounds are. The little people are armed with blowguns, bows and arrows, and daggers, which to them are full battle swords. Maddox starts to inch his way back towards his horse because he has left his battleaxe there. As he nears his horse, one of the little people lets loose with a dart from his blowgun. It flies by barely missing Maddox's head and it sticks in a tree with a thwack.

Maddox's bull-like nostrils start to flare as he starts to get mad, but Lynx tells him, "Maddox, stay your anger and hold your ground, please, just for a second, and let us see where this is going."

Tork adds, "The White Sorceress would not have led us into danger, so there must be another reason she has directed us to this unknown place."

So they wait for the little mole-like people, the Innians, to make the first move, and it is not long before one does. It is a chunky sized one who seems to have the expression of knowledge and age on his face. They all pretty much look the same. Their bodies are covered with short brown hair and they have pig-like pink snouts. Some are skinny, some are chunky, some are shorter than what looks to be the average, and some are taller than what looks to be the average, but none are over thirty marks tall.

The one chosen to greet them, or whatever he is doing, comes up to Lynx, and without saying a word takes Lynx's hand and starts tugging on him to follow. Lynx looks at Tork and Maddox and shrugs his shoulders, then motions with his head for them to follow. Soon, another two walk up and take Tork and Maddox's hands and lead them all towards an opening in one of the mounds.

Lynx tries to communicate with them, but they answer back in a gibberish that must be their language. A language that none of the threesome can understand. As they near the opening, Maddox is getting second thoughts about trying to fit his giant horned head and body into the little hole. When he stops his forward motion, the little people start to get all excited. They go into a frenzy of jumping around and going on in their language.

Tork motions for Maddox to follow with a word of encouragement, "Come, brother, let us discover another wonder of our world." Maddox gives a fierce grunt of doubt, but follows despite his feelings about the situation.

The threesome have to get down on their hands and knees to make it into the doorway. It is pitch black and they can see nothing, but they have no choice now but to put their trust into their little companions. They travel for some time trying to remember which way they are going, where turns are and so on, in case they have to make a quick exit.

From out of the dark Lynx can hear Maddox's horns scraping the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, and he can hear Tork's sword scabbard scraping the sides. They travel quite a bit further until finally they can tell that the tunnels are getting bigger. At last they come to a huge open cavern lit by torches, and there they find Kyle sitting on a boulder waiting patiently for them.

Tork yells out, "Kyle, our friend, we thought you were lost for good." With smiles of sincerity on their faces a league wide, they all embrace each other. Once again the Companions are reunited.

"What happened to you? We searched, but we find no sign of you." "I fell into a swirling mass of lights. At first I thought it was a shallow puddle with an odd reflection, but when I stepped in it, it sucked me down. It deposited me in a tunnel not far from here. They immediately found me and took me deeper into their world. We traveled underground until finally we came here, and this is where I have been ever since. It was only today that they lit this cavern for me so I did not have to continue to use my sword's powers to see who had me. I am still not sure who they are or why we are here."

With every new experience Tork's voice is becoming stronger, "I do not know either, but the White Sorceress led us here so there must be a reason." "I think there is something down here killing them. I hear strange noises of groans and screams, and at times smoke coming from out of some of the tunnels. They are scared of it, whatever it is."

"Great, and me left my battleaxe topside when there is something down here that is killing these people."

"Kyle, the White Sorceress told us that we have only ten days left to make it to the Rye Mountains and defeat the Masters and their evil god Zarton. Something about a Full Circle and certain forces working with or against us, so we must be on our way now." "It is only nine days now. If we are to have any time to scout the area before we attack, I agree with Tork we must leave now." Agrees Lynx.

"These people have treated me with respect and have taken good care of me. Though I cannot understand a word they say, it sounds like a plea for help. They are also beings of Owen and they deserve our help. If we do not give it to them then we are no better than the Masters."

"Alright, alright, my new friend and teacher, we will stay and help them, but quit with the lesson of morality." Kids!

Then all of a sudden they hear a growl come up and out of one of the tunnels, followed by smoke and the smell of burnt flesh. The little people, the Innians, start scurrying around trying to hide. Some hide behind their new guests. The first mole creature that approached them outside is pointing and ranting and raving, and trying to push them in the direction of the disturbance.

"Well, I guess this is why we have been directed here, so let us go see what is happening. Grab the torches." Kyle turns toward the tunnel in question and clobbers his head on a low hanging rock. There are times that Kyle wishes he had worn his full combat armor to this kingdom.

They head down the tunnel where the growl and smoke had come from only moments ago. This tunnel is bigger than the first, but they still have to bend over to walk down it. They walk for about a hundred and fifty paces until they come to an intersection where three other tunnels split off from the main tunnel. From several of the tunnels they hear growls coming up from the bowels of the world.

"Tork and Maddox, you two take the torches and go down that tunnel." pointing to the tunnel that veers off to the left. "Lynx and I will continue down this one. Take care and we will meet back here within the hour."

Maddox and Tork go down the one tunnel and Kyle and Lynx go down the other. Kyle lights the way with the diamond on the hilt of his sword. He has it drawn and ready to thrust forward, because with the tunnel being so small he could never get a lethal enough swing. They go a little further in and then turn a bend and the tunnel opens up even further, at which point they can stand upright. Lynx notices a pair of red eyes glowing in the dark up ahead of them, and just as he is saying, "What is that?" it growls and lets loose with a ball of fire that consumes the whole tunnel heading right towards them.

Kyle calls forth his powers to bring a shield of power up around them just in time, as the flames consume them and everything in the tunnel. The shield protects them. Then when the flames subside and Kyle lets down the protection shield, Lynx draws back his bow and lets loose with an arrow. It flies through what light Kyle's sword gives off, and then it flies through the darkness and strikes the fire beast. One of the red eyes goes dim and then blank.

With a fierce growl and another ball of fire, the beast tries to attack. Kyle raises the shield once again and it protects them once more. When the fire dies out Kyle lets fly a power bolt of spectacular size. It is quite beautiful looking, as it lights the nearby sides of the tunnel as it goes down.

It strikes the beast. At first the golden energy surrounds the beast, and then it slowly sinks into it, and then a moment later with a violent convulsion the beast explodes into thousands of tiny pieces like fine crystal being dropped onto stone. The smell of burnt flesh grows stronger as they make their way towards whatever lay ahead. They come upon it and are trying to put the pieces back together, in their mind anyway, and at last they discover that it is a baby Fire Dragon, or used to be, anyway.

Curious, Lynx has to ask, "Kyle, why do living creatures die that way when you use magic on them?"

"It is because the energy of who we are going to be throughout our lives is captured within us all at the time of our creation, and when the magic soaks down to the molecular level and breaks the bonds of existence it releases the energy. Some magic users can force their magic to combine with that released energy to create heat, and that is why sometimes it appears that people melt instead of explode outward."

Lynx tries to wrap his head around the concept, but finally gives up, just saying, "Wow."

Kyle, returning to the problem at hand, ponders, "Fire Dragons, what would they be doing here? I did not know they bred underground, especially this far from the Masters and the Rye Mountains."

Only knowing a little of the Catacomb Tunnels of Owen, Lynx adds, "These tunnels apparently run under much of Owen. Perhaps they even run under the Rye Mountains. I wonder if we could use them to go unnoticed into the Rye Mountains?"

Maddox and Tork are sloshing their way through a muddy passageway when they hear something up ahead doing the same thing. They listen for a second longer and realize it is going away from them. They come up on it and finally realize what it is. It is a baby Fire Dragon. Even though it is only a baby, it measures between three to five paces long, tail included, of course.

"I no have my battleaxe, so give me your sword and you use your powers." Tork goes to give Maddox his sword, but the sword burns his hands and he drops it with a loud clank. The baby fire dragon also hears the noise and is trying desperately to turn around.