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Valkyrion

4/26/2010

Mina watched the closed door for a couple of minutes.

She tensed, one hand on the gun concealed at her midriff, heart pounding. Would they try to kill her now that she and Iris were separated? They could try, but she wouldn’t go down easily. The door remained closed.

Mina relaxed, just a little. She wasn’t worried about Iris—she was the one they hated, not Iris—but the situation pissed her off. She ran her finger around the bevel of the center stone. The necklace had seemed heavy at first, but now she barely noticed it. She scanned her eyes around the room, trying not to see the individual molecules. She could feel the power in the necklace, if she only she could control it. She sat down on the bed and closed her eyes. Why couldn’t see control it? She’d done it before, at the apartment. She’d reached out and touched the metal in the table; she’d shaped it between her fingers. Yes, it had made her sick, but maybe if she knew what to expect, she could try again. For a fraction of a second there was a wonderful feeling. The memory nagged at her. Mina ran her fingers along the chains, feeling every delicately wrought link. With a start, she realized she wanted to try using it again. She would have tried long ago if there had been time, or if she’d been alone. Mina didn’t like the way Iris looked at the necklace, and knew the other woman wouldn’t want her trying to use it. She only wanted to get it off as quickly as possible. Mina frowned. Maybe she didn’t want to take it off.

She opened her eyes, automatically scanning them across the room to avoid sensory overload. She stopped and focused on the middle-distance in front of her. The patterns in the air were visible, but not too overwhelming. They almost looked like patterns of smoke in the air. She could deal with that. Mina let her eyes go in and out of focus, watching the air molecules move with her breathing. She blew out and watched them shoot through the air. She could see the different atoms, but couldn’t identify them. As though someone had put fifty different species of butterfly in front of her. She could tell the difference between them, but didn’t know which one was which.

The air was too ethereal to try touching. When she moved, her hands slipped through the molecules. Watching the air didn’t bring on any nausea, although breathing visible air took some getting used to. She played with the oxygen and water vapor for a few minutes, expecting the door to open and interrupt her. There was no way to tell how long Iris had been gone. Mina hoped she was a good diplomat. Her first idea was to fight their way out and set fire to the place as they left. That probably wasn’t the best plan.

The patterns in the air began to bore her. Mina closed her eyes and tested her body carefully. There was still no headache and her stomach felt fine. Maybe she could try something else. The walls of the cave were more jumbled than the air, and more complex. She took a deep breath and simply looked, letting her eyes sort themselves out. The elements were all smashed together, but as she looked closer, she could start to tell where one stopped and another began. It was like a million tiny seeds, nothing but a mess at first, but the more she looked, the easier it was to pick them apart. A headache began to form behind her straining eyes and Mina quickly shut them. She didn’t know what they dwarves were going to do to her or Iris. She couldn’t be distracted by pain.

It nagged at her, even behind closed eyes, and Mina found herself stroking the center stone of the necklace. She ran her finger around the bevel. It was as smooth as glass. It was a beautiful piece, even without the extra powers. The thought of having to take it off made her stomach twist. Her fingers closed around the stone and she opened her eyes. If she could learn to control it, she wouldn’t have to give it up.

Sorting out the mess in the rock was easier this time. She could see the different atoms; some looked more solid than others and some were shiny. Maybe if she was more careful this time she could touch the elements, not try to control them, just touch. She reached out with one hand and very slowly pushed one finger into the wall. She could feel the resistance of the stone, but also billions of tiny pinpricks that were the individual molecules. She twisted her finger, separating some atoms and forcing others together. Slowly, she pushed her finger into the solid rock wall.

The pain behind her eyes spread and stabbed nails into her temples. Mina yanked her hand back and closed her eyes. She took several deep breaths, willing herself not to be sick. Her stomach churned, but she managed to avoid throwing up. She took a couple more deep breaths and opened her eyes. The swirling patterns of the air were soothing. She smiled. Despite the pain in her head and the queasiness in her stomach, Mina was elated. There was still a divot in the wall, and she hadn’t thrown up. Letting her eyes go out of focus eased the headache and the nausea gave way to hunger. Maybe working the necklace would be possible. Maybe she wouldn’t have to give it up. Instinctively, Mina could feel the power humming through her. What she could do now was nothing. She would have to ask Iris about the elf it had come from.

They had to get out of here first. Mina chewed on her bottom lip. If this were a normal situation—as much as being held captive was ever normal—she would try to seduce a guard. Somehow, Mina doubted that would work here. Besides the fact that she didn’t understand a word anyone was saying and everyone here hated her guts, she really didn’t go for short guys. Seducing someone she couldn’t talk to wasn’t impossible, but it was hard to look adoringly up at a man when he was a foot and a half shorter than she was. Besides, there were usually easier ways of getting out of bad situations. She smiled wryly. Distraction did help, though. Since she was petite and feminine, men never expected her to fight back. They never expected her to do more than beat on their chests and sob like a soap opera heroine. They certainly didn’t expect her to plant and elbow in their solar plexus and a knee in their crotch. Her smile evaporated; the blunt force approach wasn’t going to work here.

She felt the Colt still tucked into the belly holster. It was a good thing they hadn’t searched her. Would they even recognize the weapon? It didn’t matter. Her ammo was limited and the number of dwarves was not. Opening fire would only piss them off. She hoped Iris was getting through to them. Mina really couldn’t picture the other woman as a diplomat. Of course, she’d never pictured Iris as a butt-kicking, axe-wielding Amazon, either. Yet, here they were.

Mina realized she was playing with the necklace again and dropped her hand. The headache was gone, but she didn’t want to overdo anything. Especially since she still didn’t know what the dwarves had planned for her. They might not hurt Iris out of respect for her patrons, but Mina had no such protection.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. It was chilly underground. They’d taken her flannel shirt when they taken the packs. She watched the air move around her and tried to remember anything from her high school chemistry class. She’d been more interested in the teacher than the subject. Atoms moved faster when they were warm. She remembered that much. Did that mean that moving the molecules faster would heat up the air?

There were blankets on the beds. Mina pulled one off and wrapped it around her exposed shoulders. Getting a blanket was easier than trying to manipulate atomic particles, but the idea lingered.

She sat up and reached for the gun as the bolt on the door was scraped back. She didn’t draw the weapon, but loosened her grip on the blanket. If she needed to she could throw it at someone to disorient them. So far, she’d seen only hand-held weapons. Nothing with much range.

The door opened and a dwarf entered. He said something in their guttural, troglodyte language and motioned for her to go out into the hallway.

She shrugged off the blanket, “Alright, I hear you. You don’t have to be a jerk about it.” There was another dwarf outside, but Iris wasn’t in the hallway. Mina fidgeted a little as the dwarf closed the door behind them. What has they done with her?

Having a man with an axe walking behind her made Mina’s skin crawl. She kept her arms crossed over her stomach and one hand on the pistol. She was pretty fast with it, but the dwarf was only a couple feet behind her. If he decided to come after her she wasn’t sure she’d be fast enough to do anything about it. Where was Iris? She tried not to let the nervousness show as the pair walked her down twisting passageways. She wondered where they were taking her. She hoped it wasn’t someplace to be quietly killed and disposed of. There were only two of them; if she had to she could shoot them both and make a run for it. Mina realized she was gripping the butt of the pistol so hard her hand was cramping. She forced her fingers to relax. It was darker the deeper they went into the caves. The lamps on the walls were farther and farther between. She didn’t want to try and escape without Iris. She should never have let the dwarves separate them.

They turned a final corner and stopped in front of a door.

“Iris!” She let her breath out at the sight of the other woman. Iris was flanked by a pair of guards as well.

“Mina.”

“How did the diplomacy go?” Judging by the armed guards, not too well.

Iris shook her head, “Not so much.”

“I figured.” She took a step forward as the butt of an axe was shoved into her back. “Okay, okay. Settle down.” She looked at Iris, “What’s behind door number one?”

“Not sure. We’re gonna find out real quick, though.”

“Great.” Out of the corner of her eye, Mina saw the dwarf behind her move his axe. She caught the handle before he could hit her again and pulled. “Enough.” The dwarf was stronger than he looked and didn’t let go, but it was enough to rattle him a little. Mina bared her teeth at him. She was still nervous, but it was better than sitting around not knowing what was happening. A direct threat was something she could deal with. Iris laughed a little.

One of the dwarves opened the door a crack and said something to Iris. She responded in the same guttural language. Mina wasn’t sure how she was able to speak to them. Mina had meant to ask her about it, but there hadn’t been time. It didn’t matter anyway. After the things she’d seen today, speaking in tongues was a small thing. Iris turned back to her, “In we go.” She was trying to keep her tone light, but Mina could tell she was scared.

Mina sighed; of all the places to die, a thousand feet underground in another dimension had never crossed her mind. Her stomach dropped and she slumped a little. She wished there was some way to get a message to her parents. She at least wanted them to know she’d died fighting. That would please her father. The dwarf in her peripheral vision was smiling. Mina straightened up and glared at him. She wasn’t going to let a bunch of guys with Napoleon complexes get the better of her. They weren’t dead yet.

* * *

The heavy door slammed shut behind them, leaving Iris and Mina standing in dim phosphorescent light. The room was as big as a ballroom with a vaulted ceiling about fifteen feet high. There were small pots attached to the walls. In them were bunches of phosphorescent mushrooms. They glowed with a faintly blue-green light. It wasn’t much light, but it was enough to see the mess. At one point there were rows of shelves lining the room. A few of the stacked shelves were still standing, but most were tipped over. There were wooden trays scattered around the room with their contents scattered over the floor. Splintered wood mixed with dirt and fragments of glowing mushrooms.

“What a dump. What are we doing here?”

“There’s some sort of infestation. They want whatever it is to eat us instead of something valuable.”

“I think it’s a little late for that.”

Iris nodded absently and went to one few upright shelves to see what was on them. A single tray sat on the shelf, covering it completely. It was filled with compost and mushrooms in various stages of growth. This would explain where the dwarves’ food supply was coming from. But the tray was overcrowded and there were dead and rotting plants mixed with the healthy ones. There were more glowing mushrooms attached to the shelves.

“Iris?”

She turned to look at Mina, “Yeah?”

“Check this out.” Mina was bent down examining something on the floor.

“What is it?”

“Not sure. It looks like rat droppings, but I’ve never seen anything this big.” The scat was as long as Iris’ hand.

“They did say there was an infestation.”

Mina straightened up and looked at her, “Giant cave rats? Seriously?”

Iris sighed, “Welcome to my world. It’s been like this for weeks. The way they were talking, this happens pretty regularly. I wonder how they get in.” She looked around. The walls looked like solid rock and the only entrance she could see was the locked door behind them.

“Normal rats can chew through a cinderblock and swim up water pipes. I’m guessing giant cave rats can go anywhere they want.”

Iris sized up her axes, “Let’s not hang around.” She’d had enough of this. The dwarves had put them in here to die. She wasn’t going to pretend to be nice to them anymore. They were getting out of here. The door looked solid, but it was only wood. She hacked at it with both axes.

“Iris, wait!”

Iris opened her eyes to see Mina sitting over her. The floor was pleasantly cool and made the burning behind her eyes feel better. She carefully tested each limb before trying to sit up. Her hands were empty. Iris looked around, fighting panic. Where were her axes?

“Here they are.” Mina gestured to the floor beside her, but didn’t try to touch them. “Are you alright?”

She put the weapons back on her ears and rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away the headache. There was compost in her hair and splinters of wood on the floor around her, “I think so.” Her shoulders and back ached as well. “What happened?”

“I tried to warn you. I think the door is magic. It looks normal, like your axes. You hit that door and flew back here like it was electrified or something. You’re lucky the shelves stopped you or you’d be all the way across the room.”

“How long was I out?”

“Not long.”

Iris forced herself to her feet and tottered across the room to look at the door more closely. She picked mushroom particles out of her hair as she studied it. There were runes inscribed on the iron fastenings. Iris groaned at her own stupidity. Of course the dwarves would protect their food supply.

She turned back to Mina, “Guess we’re not getting out that way. Any bright ideas?”

“Not yet, but I think we’re going to have company pretty soon. I could hear them moving around while you were out.”

“Today just keeps getting better and better.” She took down her axes again and listened. She could hear the scrabble of claws on stone, but couldn’t tell where they were coming from. There was more than one. Iris hated rats. They were disease carrying vermin and so hard to get rid of once they took up residence. She tried to remember what she knew about them. They didn’t like to go out in open spaces, were generally nocturnal, and they were smart. There was plenty of cover for them anywhere in the room. She took out her helmet and put it on.

“We might want to find some high ground.” Mina broke into her thoughts. Iris looked around, but there wasn’t much. Her flight across the room had broken one of the last intact shelving units. The only other one she could see was across the room. Iris wasn’t sure if they could make it that far.

She motioned towards the shelves, “You want to risk it?” She could hear things moving in the darkness, getting bolder. Out of the corner of her eye she could see movement.

Mina shook her head, “No time.” The other woman pulled the pistol from her waistband. “Here, stand back-to-back.”

For a moment there was only the sound of their breathing, then a crash of shifting wood as one of the rats edged its way around a pile of debris and began to pull at the wood. In the dim light Iris could see it definitely resembled a rodent, but not any rodent she’d ever seen. It was the size of a medium dog, but with shorter legs, enormous ears, a pointed nose with long ratlike whiskers, huge eyes and a long tail. The strangest feature was the pair of short twisted horns protruding from its forehead. It was also pure white. For the moment it seemed more interested in rooting through the remains of the mushroom tray than in them. It pulled out a piece of wood and Iris could see it had hands with fingers, just a like a rat. It gnawed on the wood for a minute, and Iris could hear other animals moving in the fringes of darkness. She could see their shapes moving in and out of the light. Their white fur shone in the phosphorescence. They rooted through the destruction, picking out choice pieces. One snatched a mushroom from another. The first tried to get it back and slashed at the second with yellow teeth as long as Iris’ fingers. The thief leapt onto the other rodent, the force of the blow tumbling it onto its back. It tried to bite at the other animal and managed to sink its teeth into the thief’s shoulder. The thief sunk teeth into the first animal’s belly and tore, the blood staining the white fur. Iris held her breath as several other rats—who had been picking through the wreckage and ignoring the two combatants—began helping the winner finish off the injured animal.

Iris wasn’t fond of rats, but couldn’t help feeling sorry for the dying animal. Its screams of pain echoed weirdly around the cavern. Behind her, Mina blew out her breath, but didn’t move. Three of the animals began eating the carcass, fighting over the choice pieces. Iris looked around, trying to see everywhere at once. There were at least four more rats picking their way through the debris. They didn’t seem to be finding much. One of them looked up, its huge eyes scanning through the dim light. It seemed to see them for the first time. It took a couple of steps towards them, swishing its tail, trying to figure out if they were worth attacking.

Movement caught her eye. For the first time Iris could see where the rats were getting in as more of them came through an irregular hole in the wall. The squabbles over the body of the dead rat grew louder. Iris jumped and spun as the gun went off behind her. Two shots in quick succession. A rat was crumbled a few feet in front of Mina.

“You okay?”

“Fine. Watch it!”

Iris turned back in time to see another rat running towards her. The spot between its horns was a perfect place to aim. The axe sheared through its skull and began circling back to her. Mina fired again and Iris turned. They weren’t being attacked, but Mina was opening fire on the remaining rats anyway.

“What are you doing?”

“I want them gone. You gonna help me or what?”

Mina had a point, but Iris wasn’t used to killing things that weren’t trying to kill her.

The rats began scrambling over each other to get back to the safety of their tunnels. Mina emptied the first clip, dropped it and shoved in the second one. The sound of gunshots echoing off the rock walls made Iris’ ears ring. Her axes cut through the fleshy bodies of the rats with ease. No wonder the dwarves seemed to think of these things as more of an annoyance than a threat. Still, they needed to find a way to close up the tunnel entrance. Mina was running out of ammo, and Iris knew if she kept this up she’d have to sleep soon. Without the extra range of their weapons the rats would be much more dangerous.

Mina counted her shots, trying to make each one count. The rats weren’t working together. They were less trouble than a pack of dogs. But her ammo wasn’t going to last forever. More rats would come through the tunnel, attracted by the smell of blood. Eventually she and Iris would get hungry and weak. They would have to sleep sometime. The thought of waking up with one of those creatures gnawing on her foot made Mina cringe. They had to figure out a way to block up the entrance. One of Iris’ axes sliced through the legs of the last fleeing rat as it tried to escape back into the wall. Mina walked over to the hole. It was about a foot across, chewed roughly around the edges, leaving ragged splinters of rock protruding. There was a bit of white hair hanging from one of the edges.

Iris walked over, “We have to close this up. We can’t keep this up forever.”

“Any bright ideas?”

She gestured around the room, “There’s plenty of wood.”

Mina didn’t think it would hold for long, but it was worth a try. She turned and started picking up pieces of broken timber. The rats were either not very smart, or more persistent than Mina thought. She could already hear the scrabble of claws gathering behind the wall. She couldn’t see anything through the tunnel entrance. She knelt down to pick up a piece of wood, her back to the hole.

“Mina, watch out!” Iris shoved her out of the way as a rat exploded from the tunnel entrance. She hit the wall, the impact knocking the breath out of her. She could see Iris off balance on the floor, tangled up with a rat trying to gnaw its way through her armor. She slashed at it with an axe, but the angle was wrong. Her other arm was trapped between her body and the stone.

Something snapped in Mina’s mind. Power flowed from the necklace, through her chest and radiating out into her arms. Her body moved on its own, flattening her hands against the rock. She could feel the elements of the stone, the crystalline structure of the rock. There was something heavy there, something that stood out from everything else. The power flowed out into the rock, calling to the metal. The metal obeyed, running through the other elements, combining with itself into veins of iron. The iron shot out from the ragged edges of the hole. There was a scream as it impaled a rat caught in the entrance. The iron in the animal’s blood combined with the spikes of metal.

Mina watched as the iron continued to grow, forming an interlocking, almost crystalline web. She couldn’t control what was happening, she couldn’t move. The power flowed through her with an intensity that was almost sexual. The hole was closed, nothing more than a solid piece of metal, but she couldn’t stop. The iron kept moving, flowing towards her body. It began to spike out of the walls around her. Her vision began to tunnel, and Mina could feel her body giving out. As her strength ebbed, the iron became more erratic. She screamed as a spike sliced deep into her arm. Her mind was shutting down. She was going to die pinned to this wall.

Something hit her, knocked her off balance and shoved her face-first into the floor.

“Mina?”

She couldn’t see and Iris’ voice was barely audible above the rushing in her ears. Mina convulsed, tried to push herself up onto her hands and knees, and threw up on the stone floor.

Iris caught the other woman as she was about to go head-first into a puddle of vomit. Mina was unconscious. Iris picked her up and looked back at the wall. There were spikes of metal sticking out on both sides of the hole. The hole was now a solid interlocking piece of metal, with the impaled remains of a rat hanging from it. Iris let her breath out. She knew the necklace could do amazing things, but she hadn’t expected anything like that from Mina. She looked down. Mina was pale and limp in her arms. Iris fought down panic. She needed to get her out of here. Her axes weren’t any good against the door and there was no other way out. She didn’t know the first thing about picking locks. Her gaze fell on the pistol. Mina had dropped it when she’d been thrown against the wall. Iris glanced at the doorway. It was protected against magic, but would a bullet be able to blow the lock apart or would it just bounce back as her axes had? Iris didn’t want to think about what would happen if the bullets reacted with the same force as her axes. She couldn’t think of any other options.

She set Mina down and retrieved the gun. It had been a long time since she’d handled a firearm, but thanks to Paul’s lessons she knew enough. She popped the clip out. Only two shots left.

The keyhole wasn’t big enough to fit the barrel into, so Iris just shoved it up against the metal. She held her breath, turned her head away, and pulled the trigger.

The kick was worse than she remembered. Iris shook her head, trying to stop the ringing in her ears. She took a deep breath. The door wasn’t open, but the bullet hadn’t bounced. One more shot. She put the muzzle up against the door again and tried not to flinch.

The lock exploded. Shrapnel flew towards her, cutting her exposed arms. The door didn’t open, but it moved a little on the broken bolt. Iris picked Mina up and kicked the door as hard as she could. It flew out and banged into the stone of the hallway. A pair of young dwarves was sitting on the floor. Iris sighed and set Mina down as they stood up and grabbed their weapons. She tossed the gun aside—it was empty anyway—and sized up her axes. Maybe they wouldn’t give her any trouble, but Iris wasn’t counting on getting that lucky.

The first one charged her, swinging his axe. Iris didn’t have time for this. With one axe she cut cleanly through the handle of his weapon, and with the other she knocked the axehead out of his grip. It hit the wall and bounced out of reach. She kicked the dwarf in the chest, sending him flying down the hallway. The second dwarf was staring at her, his own weapon dangling from limp fingers, his mouth open. For the first time Iris noticed how young he was. She bent down and picked Mina up, draping her carefully over one shoulder, keeping one hand free. Rage had burned away into something else, something dark and unstoppable. The dwarf started to move as though to get in front of her. Iris turned and looked at him. He went pale and she wondered what he saw in her eyes.

Her voice was low and savage, “Get out of my way.”

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