Utti leaned forward and said very softly, “Be silent. Speak when you are told to.”
Karnea flinched away from him. Kormak stepped between the dwarf and the scholar. Utti did not seem quite so intimidated now that he was the only one of the two of them holding a weapon.
They were led into a vast hall with many low arched openings leading off from it. The guards took them to the right and led them down a long ramp. There were faint lights here glowing in the ceiling. They appeared to be of the same type as the one Karnea had carried and which had now been confiscated.
At the end of a corridor they were pushed through an arch. After they were inside a massive stone door slid down from the top of the arch, effectively cutting them off from all escape. Kormak looked around. The walls of the room were bare. There was no furniture. The place was more barren than any cell he had ever been in.
Sasha spread her hands wide and gave them a wan smile. “Just when I think things can’t get worse, they somehow manage to,” she said.
“We’re still alive,” said Kormak.
“There’s a lot of dwarves out there who seem to wish we were otherwise,” said Boreas.
“I don’t think their leaders want us dead.”
“Was the big one with the long beard their leader then?”
“Warleader perhaps. I don’t know if he was their chief.”
“Bastards took my stonethrower,” said Sasha.
“They think you stole it,” Karnea said. “I heard one of them say so.”
“How could I have stolen it from them? I’ve never set eyes on one of them before this trip.”
“I think they regard everything down here as their property. Not without reason since their ancestors made it.”
“You always seem to take their side,” said Sasha.
“There are no sides here,” said Karnea. “We should all be on the same side.”
“The dwarves don’t seem to think so,” Kormak said. Sasha looked at him gratefully. “They regard my sword as some sort of forbidden weapon, a device of evil. How could that be? It was made by dwarves.”
Karnea looked at him sidelong and Kormak felt suddenly naive. It was not a sensation he was used to. “How many men do you know who claim the works of other men are evil? There can be differences of opinions between dwarves as well as humans. It’s hardly surprising given the differences between these dwarves and those beneath Aethelas.”
“Differences?” Kormak asked.
“You have never encountered those dwarves, Sir Kormak? I am surprised.”
“I have been below, but they did not allow me to see them.”
“No. They would not. I did not see my first dwarf until I had been below for six months. They do not willingly deal with us face to face.”
“How are the two tribes different?” Sasha asked. She looked genuinely curious.
“These ones are much more primitive. They dress like orcs or southern barbarians, which is to say hardly at all. Their speech is rough and their runework, at least as exemplified by their tattoos, is both crudely done and over-elaborate.”
“You are saying these ones are less civilised?”
“Less sophisticated certainly.”
“They are the ones who remained in the City in the Deeps. You would think it would be the opposite.”
“A lot of things can happen in two thousand years.”
“I agree with you,” said Sasha. “They are certainly not what I expected, judging from the statues and artefacts we found in the Underhalls. These are like Aquilean hill-tribesmen. They don’t seem much above the level of goblins themselves.”
“Something happened here,” said Karnea. “And I mean to find out what if it kills me.”
“I don’t think it’s the finding out that will kill you,” said Kormak. “It will most likely be a dwarven axe.”
As he said the words, there was a creaking sound and the door slid slowly upwards. Two armed dwarves blocked the exit. Others stood behind them.
Chapter Nineteen
THE TWO ARMED dwarves entered. One of them was Utti, who gave them an evil look. The other was a hulking brute who Kormak did not recognise but who seemed to take his cue from Utti. They pushed the humans back against the far wall. Verlek entered bearing a tray of food and drink. He eyed the chamber with distaste then set the tray down on the floor.
Two of the dwarves retreated outside. Verlek and Utti remained as the door slid down. “Eat!” said Verlek. Kormak moved forward and inspected the plates. They contained slabs of something cooked in a very black sauce. There was flask and four small stone goblets as well. Kormak took one of the plates and a spoon and took a small taste of the slab. It was a mushroom in some sort of fermented sauce. The taste was not as unpleasant as he had expected.