Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #15 June 2015 | 页面 30

pockets with as much gold as he could fit in. As he
hurried to catch up with the others, he struggled to
deal with the excess weight he was carrying.

for nothing. And if you can’t it will be five miles back
again, climb all those stairs we came down, and a descent through Suicide Pass. Any more questions? Let’s
get going.”

As they got deeper under the mountain, the temperature changed. At first the air was at a pleasant temperature and very fresh to breathe. There was a gentle
breeze blowing through the caverns from some form
of natural ventilation system. In the lower levels, the
air was damp and fetid. Condensation ran down the
walls and rivulets ran along the roughly hewn rock
floors of the passages. They began to feel a bone chilling cold that was worse than the cold on the mountain
because it was so damp and cloying. Manfred began
to wheeze and his breathing became laboured. “Curse
my rheumatic old bones!” he moaned.

“Wait!” Aglaral stopped them. “There must be a better
way. Wait here for a moment.” He disappeared into the
darkness but reappeared a few minutes later dragging
a flat trolley with small wheels. “There are more of
these over there. The dwarves must use them for moving trading goods through the tunnel. Get one each and
we can lie down and use our legs to push us through
the tunnel.”

“Don’t worry, old man, we’ll soon be out in the fresh
air again,” Gamying told him. “We are about to enter
a tunnel that will take us to the secret entrance. It is
very small, so it might be a tight squeeze. It was built
for dwarves and to slow down humans if they found
the passage and tried to gain entry. There is a mechanism at this end to collapse the tunnel on top of any
invaders should the door be breached. It’s about five
miles long, so it will be a tough walk or crawl. There’s
a door at the end. It’s sealed with magic. I couldn’t
open it when I tried to come the other way, so I had to
climb Suicide Pass. I’m sure you’ll be able to open it.
You go first and I’ll bring up the rear. We’ll travel at
your pace.”
Sure enough, they found the entrance to the tunnel
almost immediately. It was built for a dwarf to walk
with difficulty, with head bowed and carrying an axe.
This meant it was no more than four feet high, although reasonably wide, perhaps six feet. The floor
was very smooth, as if many people had passed this
way over the years and had dragged wagons behind
them. It seemed that this route might be the preferred
way to trade with Tamarlan. Manfred muttered something profane under his breath. “As if my old bones
haven’t been through enough; now you want me to
crawl for five miles? And what if I can’t open the
door?” Of course, I will be able to.
“You will, old man. You are not called The Magician

Quickly the group assembled its convoy of small wagons. Manfred led the way, Aglaral second, Kris behind
him, and Gamying brought up the rear. There were
torch holders on the wagons, which allowed them to
see what they were doing and freed their hands so that
they could hold on to the rough wood. They legged it
down the tunnel, like old canal barge travellers passing
through a cutting. Fortunately, the tunnel sloped slightly down towards the door. The floor was very smooth
and the wheels on the trolleys were well oiled, so friction was not great. Even so, the unusual strain on the
legs soon caused discomfort and cramps. I suppose it
is marginally better than crawling. It’s certainly better
than descending through Suicide Pass. I’ll need a long
soak in a hot bath when we reach Tamarlan. And a
massage from that young blonde I saw last time. Although, she’s probably in her dotage by now, passing
her time in a rocking chair. Like I should be, instead
of having all these crazy adventures. By the Balance, I
am tired. If this tunnel collapsed now, I would almost
welcome it. No! Get a grip, Manfred, your work is not
yet done. The greatest challenge still lies ahead. Simon
will depend on you.
Aglaral was young and fit and he found it relatively
easy to keep up with Manfred’s pace. In fact, he had to
be careful not to go too fast and bump into the wizard’s trolley. The monotony of the journey caused his
mind to wander. He thought about his family, and worried again whether Velacourt would keep his word. He
was torn between serving Manfred, joining Gamying,
and rushing back home. Why have the fates cast me in
this important part? I’m a simple soldier. What have

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