A Mercenary's Ending

A half hour later after Gregory had requested to receive a tour of the dark city beneath the ground, he and Dengal were being escorted not only by Frostfall, but by his two guards around the city. Spyke had been reluctant to let them explore, but finally agreed as long as they were given a guide. He had pulled Frostfall aside and spoken to her, pointing at a paper that the two both assumed was likely a map of the ancient underground city. Gregory was a bit frustrated at first, until it dawned on him that they were likely hiding something from him. Or a few things for that matter.

When Gregory asked about Majesty, since it had been almost four days, Spyke replied that she had been showing signs of waking up soon, but then had gone back to deep sleep. Spyke guessed that she’d be asleep for a half day or more, and even when she woke, she’d be weak for another day. Gregory nodded at that, thanked Spyke for letting them explore the city, and then let Frostfall and his still unnamed guards show him and Dengal around. Gregory had retrieved one of his flashlights from his belongings, a hand cranked LED one, and was using it to help him and Dengal see the buildings. Frostfall even gave them some context behind them.

“This city,” she was saying at one point in response to one of Dengal’s questions, “and several other ones in this cave system were inhabited for thousands of years by a race that her majesty calls the landvættir, or the landwights.”

“What did they look like?” Gregory asked.

“Is there a statue or a drawing we can see?” Dengal further asked.

When Starfall showed them an ancient statue that stood in a city square, Gregory was surprised to see a humanoid figure standing on what had obviously once been a fountain, but the water had long since vanished. The figure was female, having a human face and two deerlike horns. She held a stone in one hand and a small tree in the other. She was scantily clothed, wearing a wrap of leaves around her breasts and a skirt of a larger leaf around her torso. Her hair looked remarkably like willow tree branches falling all about her. On the podium she stood on was ancient faded writing. “She looks more like a dryad than anything,” Gregory said.

“What’s a dryad?” Starfall asked, sounding intrigued.

“A mythical creature from my world,” Gregory explained. “They lived in trees and tended to nature.” He looked at the statue, which was in remarkably good shape considering its apparent age. “Where did these landvættir go? What happened to them?”

“Nopony knows,” Starfall said. “Her majesty said that they kept back the frozen north and that this land was once beautiful with trees, lakes, grasslands, and more.”

“I see,” Gregory muttered to himself. The more he learned about this world, the more he wondered if it was some sort of post-apocalyptic society with all of the presumably extinct races.

They continued the tour, seeing more depictions of the landvættir, including a couple color paintings that showed them as having dark green skin. He saw a drawing of two landvættir children, a boy and girl, standing near an arched cave, and he was briefly reminded of the Green Children of Woolpit myth. He doubted they were related, though.

The writing in the city was also intriguing to him. It had a flowing script that had some hint of Nordic text to it. Starfall explained that not even Majesty could use a translation spell on it as the runes resisted magic. A few linguists from Sanctuary had been studying the runes and were hopeful they could break the language barrier, according to the nox pony.

At one point, they came to a stone depiction of a tree in the exact center of town. The tree was more like a pillar that reached up to the cave’s ceiling, which was shaped like a massive tree when Gregory’s flashlight played over it. It was like the town was being protected from the outer cold by the stone tree’s branches. In a way, Gregory was reminded of the Together Trees from G5. There was a stone door carved into the tree which was part of the pillar itself and not an actual door. To satiate his curiosity, Gregory even tried to open it, as did Dengal. Nothing.

It was when they passed by a large building that Gregory heard something. Starfall had been talking about said building as being presumably some kind of community gathering place judging by the circle mosaic in the center of the massive domed building. There was a pause in the conversation, and that’s when he heard a muffled bird call coming from the building. A bird call, and then a small voice calling out “…Help…”

Gregory wasn’t the only one to hear it. Gregory saw Dengal’s ears twitch slightly. “What was that?” She looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise.

“What was what?” Starfall asked, sounding a bit confused with a hint of worry in her voice.

“I just heard a bird call,” Dengal explained. She walked over to stand next to Gregory and looked up at the sky. “Gregory, shine your light up.”

He did so, scanning the ceiling while looking for the bird. He felt Dengal’s claw brush his pinkie finger, pulling it gently with her thumb and foreclaw-No, damn it! They’re more like hands than other goblin claws, so that’s what I’m calling them! he thought absently as he continued scanning the ceiling. She pulled his pinkie, pointing it back towards the domed building. He flexed his pinkie in response. “Do birds come in here?” Gregory asked.

Starfall let out what Gregory assumed as an involuntary sigh of what sounded like relief. “It’s rare, but it does happen,” the nox replied.

As if by providence, Gregory’s light did shine on a small bird that was in the cavern. It moved when the light shone on it, flying away from the light whenever it was shone on the creature. Gregory moved the light away. “Huh, guess we’re just lucky then,” he said.

Dengal giggled, and Gregory found her giggle to be incredibly cute. He only knew her tough blacksmith exterior until recently. He felt honored to see her feminine and tender side. He knew better than to treat her like some helpless woman, though. She could likely bench press him despite her not looking like she had muscle. She then looked back at the domed building. “So, is there a reason why we can’t look inside this building?” she asked. Gregory knew then that she had heard the voice calling for help, too.

“W-Well, Queen Majesty doesn’t want the inside to be disturbed,” Starfall explained. “It’s an ancient building that has been preserved much better than any other building in the city.”

“Really? Does she know how that was done?” Dengal asked.

Starfall considered. “If she knows, I don’t have any information on that,” she replied. “It’s an ancient city, after all, and maybe she visited here long ago.”

Gregory put his hands in his pockets, but slowly began to feel around his belt. To his complete shock, some of his mercenary equipment had not been taken from him. That included flash flares, small balls that, when hitting the ground or being stomped on, would ignite and create massive light flares that could temporarily blind an opponent by emitting bright pulses of light. Some even emitted high pitched whistling sounds that Gregory couldn’t hear, but that some other species could, including abyssinians, diamond dogs, and chiropteran ponies, to name a few. The ones on his belt, hidden in plain sight and masquerading as belt decorations, were those types. He waited for the right moment, while Dengal asked again, “Have you seen the inside?” She began maneuvering so that the massive building was between them and the castle. Gregory walked close behind.

Starfall froze. It was the briefest of brief moments, but it was there. To her credit, she recovered quickly and nodded, following the two while the guards walked with them. “It’s beautiful,” she replied with a smile. “I’m not sure how to properly describe it. There are mosaics on the walls depicting what I’m guessing are some historical events important to the landvættir. There’s a glowing yellow crystal at the top of the ceiling that looks like the sun, and the floor has even more-”

The moment they were out of sight of the castle, Gregory released a small flash flare, letting it run down his leg. They jumped briefly into the air then landed on the ground. Immediately, bright pulses of chemically created light erupted from the ground. The three nox covered their eyes with their wings, stumbling back. While they were in shock and pain, Gregory closed his eyes and shouted, “The fuck is that?!”

At the same time, Dengal tossed something from her pocket which landed in front of the three nox. There was another flash, then a brief puff of green smoke rose up from the flare. The moment the three nox inhaled it, they collapsed. When they were down, Gregory stomped on the flash flare, covering it with his boot and stomping it out. At the same time, Dengal was moving back to where they had seen a closed door on the side of the domed structure. He followed, keeping an eye in the direction of the ancient underground castle. Despite them being behind the building, Gregory suspected someone had to have seen that, and if they wanted to sell their story of not knowing where the flares had come from, they needed to be quick.

Of course, nothing was that easy. Dengal and Gregory found that the door was incredibly heavy. With two of them pushing, it took them a few precious minutes to get it open. They both squeezed in and looked around, Gregory flashing his light around. The moment the flashlight illuminated the ceiling, it began glowing with a warm white light, illuminating the entire area. They pulled the three nox ponies in and lay the down gently on the ground inside the building before looking around.

Starfall hadn’t been lying about how magnificent the interior was. There were mosaics on the wall with green skinned humanoids on them in a style that looked almost ancient Egyptian in how they were put together. What she hadn’t mentioned were the number of massive birds that looked like golden eagles all nestled in the room, their eyes all locked on the two intruders. Gregory stared at the seven birds, birds big enough that he and Dengal could ride on their backs with ease. “What in the world…?” he muttered.

One of the eagles stood up taller, spreading its wings, and in a deep voice, it spoke. “And just who are you two? And who are they?” It was a male voice, that much was certain. The massive bird sounded tired, but there was still authority there.

Gregory’s brain locked up instantly. He knew he’d heard a bird call, but had never expected them to find a small number of eagles living here. Dengal, for her part, recovered first. She raised her hands. “We’re as much prisoners here as you are,” she said, showing that she was unarmed, “And these three were our escorts to see the city.”

Gregory quickly copied her movements and nodded in agreement. “If Majesty has had you imprisoned here, then we’re in a similar boat.”

The large eagle locked eyes with Gregory, looking at him with keen and intelligent eyes. He wasn’t sure, but there seemed to be wisdom of ages behind those golden eyes of his. The eagle lowered his head to get a closer look at Gregory, who made a great effort to stand his ground. “Human…” he finally said with surprise. “I was told your kind were long gone.”

“This world’s humans might be gone, but I’m not from this world,” Gregory explained.

“Yes, that I can see,” the eagle replied as he stood back up and ruffled its wings. “What brings you and your goblin companion here?”

“We heard a bird call coming from here,” Dengal explained, “and our escorts here seemed to be hiding something about this building. We also heard someone calling for help.”

“Didn’t that come from one of you?” Gregory added.

The eagles looked at each other, tilting their heads in a way that indicated that they were confused. He’d seen gryphons look similarly, so it wasn’t hard to see the similarities. The first eagle, apparently the spokesperson for the group, turned back. “We didn’t speak, and you couldn’t have heard any voice from one of us. This building was enchanted so no noise could escape from it.”

That confused Gregory, who knew what he’d heard. Dengal also looked confused. “We did hear someone call for help and a bird call,” the gobliness said.

“Then it wasn’t from us,” the eagle said. He then looked past the two at the unconscious nox. “What happened to them?”

“We temporarily knocked them out and we came in here,” Gregory explained, “but I never expected this. Why are you here? Why did Majesty imprison you?”

The eagle scowled. “We are a threat to her power,” the eagle replied, “or so she says.”

“Why?” Dengal asked.

“That is not something we have an answer for,” the eagle said. The eagle made a noise that sounded like soft laughter. “If you were hoping to free us and ask us to aid in your escape, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.” The eagle raised his leg, showing a gold chain attached to a gold manacle wrapped around his leg. “These are enchanted and cannot be broken with any normal magic.”

Gregory cursed under his breath. “Nothing’s ever easy,” he muttered. “How in the world did you come in here? Did Majesty teleport you in?”

The eagle shook his head. “There are large caverns that even she doesn’t know about. If we were free, we could fly there and to the outside.”

“Who has the keys?” Gregory asked.

“The head guard Iron Grip,” the eagle replied, “and Spyke.”

Gregory frowned. He had heard of Iron Grip but had never seen the nox pony guard. “What does it look like?”

“It’s the only gold key on the chain he carries around,” the eagle said.

“Understood,” he said.

“Hey, I can hear wings flapping,” Dengal said hurriedly as she began to quickly carry the three nox out of the room again.

Gregory looked back at the eagle who he’d been speaking with. “Listen, mister…um…”

“I don’t have a name,” the eagle said. “None of us do.”

Gregory didn’t have time to ponder that. “Well, my friend and I are going to try and escape from here at some point, and if we can, we’ll come and free you all as well.” The eagle didn’t look convinced, so Gregory added, “I know you don’t believe me, and I understand that. We’re going to try, and that’s all I can say.”

“I sincerely hope you succeed,” the eagle said, “because escape from these manacles is impossible for us.” The eagle held up the offending piece of metal to emphasize his point.

Gregory then almost smacked himself. He had a potential solution to the problem. Over a year ago, he and Tobias had taken a job as treasure hunters. There had been a cache of supposed ancient weapons buried by a legendary pirate somewhere in the Badlands before it had become the desert it was-or rather, the desert it had been before Majesty terraformed it into a lush paradise. They had found a door buried in the side of a cliff, and the lock had only opened after Gregory had touched it with one of his pistols. He guessed that because his metallic objects came from a world without magic, contact with enchantments disrupted the spell, although future experiments showed it only worked sometimes. “Can I try something?” Gregory asked.

“Nothing can break this enchantment,” the eagle emphasized.

“We need to go!” Dengal whispered loudly.

“Give me a little bit,” Gregory said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper clip that he’d brought with him. “Can I just try?”

The eagle sighed, or it sounded like a sigh. “Very well.”

Gregory quickly walked up to the manacle, knelt, and touched metal to metal. Nothing happened. Undeterred, he began bending the small wire-like piece of metal then stuck it into the keyhole. To his delight, there was a slight shattering sound, then magic seemed to evaporate from the manacle as it came undone. The eagle looked down with what Gregory guessed was surprise. “What magic is this?” he asked.

“No time to explain,” Gregory said, holding the small piece of metal out. “We’ll have to close the door behind us again, but you can use this to free the others. Just stick it into the keyhole of each manacle.”

The eagle acted quickly, grabbing the paper clip with surprising dexterity in its talons. “Go,” he said, “we can handle our own.”

Gregory rushed out and together he and Dengal closed the door behind them. Dengal had already put the ponies down while at the same time wiping away any footprints that led to the door to the eagle’s prison. She wiped away Gregory’s footsteps, then returned to look at the unconscious guards next to Gregory. “What now?” the gobliness asked.

Gregory looked at where Dengal had put the nox. “Now, we try to wake them,” Gregory said.

Dengal nodded and picked up the metal pieces from the knockout pellets, then walked over to one of the guards. “Up and at ‘em, cowboy,” she said with a country-ish accent.

Gregory almost chuckled at Dengal’s amusing words before he knelt next to Starfall. He put on a face of concern as he began to gently shake the nox maid. “Miss Starfall? Hey, Miss Starfall? You okay?” The nox pony began to stir, but didn’t do anything else. He began acting a bit more frantic and shook her a little more forcefully. For any normal creature, the knockout pellets would keep them out for about a half hour, and nowhere near that amount of time had passed. Still, he had to put up the pretense of trying.

Above him, he heard the sound of massive wings flapping. Nox. He and Dengal looked up to see a large nox pony guard along with a few other nox guards flying down. The nox pony Gregory saw was burly and full of muscle, while also wearing a helmet that was different from the other guards’ helmets. He was also a head taller than the other ponies. He landed and looked around, a grim expression on his face. “What happened here?” he asked, giving Gregory a pointed look.

“I’m not sure,” Gregory lied smoothly, looking around as if he expected something to happen, “we were talking about this building here when there was a flash of light and some sort of gas, and then these three collapsed. We moved them away from the area and we’ve been trying to get them awake ever since.”

The burly nox looked at Starfall and the two guards. There was a frown on his face as he turned to the guards. “Take them to the doctor to be treated and examined,” he ordered. Gregory and Dengal backed away as the other nox ponies grabbed the unconscious ones and flew away. The nox guard captain watched the guards leave then turned to Gregory and Dengal slowly. “I’m Captain Iron Grip. Are you two alright?” he asked slowly.

Gregory missed his mask all the more now, but he had practiced his own lying in the time he’d been on Erda. He leaned against the domed building that housed the eagle prisoners and let out a sigh. “Yeah,” he muttered, “that was…an experience.” He was still a mercenary, after all, so he had to act like it didn’t bother him too much, which was easy to fake. Well, except for his concern for Starfall. That had been genuine since he had a soft spot for his personal maid. She was competent, seemed to genuinely care about his wellbeing, and was a generally sweet pony to boot. Plus, she had some cute quirks that he liked. He hoped that when this was all over and if they escaped and helped defeat Majesty that the young nox pony would be alright.

Iron Grip nodded, then turned to the other guards still around. “Secure the area and search for intruders,” he ordered, then pointed to two guards. “You and you. Escort the guests of her majesty back to the palace.”

“Yes sir!” the other guards saluted and scattered in a disciplined manner save for the two who walked up to Gregory and Dengal, flanking them. Iron Grip turned to them. “Please let them guide you back to your room. The city is under lockdown until we find the intruders.”

Gregory looked around with his cautious wariness that he’d adopted as a mercenary. “Who could it be?” he asked.

“That’s what we’ll be looking for,” Iron Grip said. “Now, head back to the castle. Please.”

Gregory nodded, able to hear the ordering tone in Iron Grip’s voice. He and Dengal turned back towards the palace. He reached down and subtly touched Dengal’s pinkie finger. She briefly intertwined it with his before the two separated their fingers. There was silence among the group as they were led back to their room. It was a tense walk, which made sense.

Finally, the guards dropped them off and the two were alone. Gregory walked over to the chair and collapsed into it, exhaling heavily. “That was…fun,” he said, giving Dengal a brief knowing look. “Think they’ll be okay?”

Dengal, to her credit, seemed to get the intent behind the look as she sat down on the chair opposite his. “They’ll be fine,” she said. “They were just knocked out by whatever happened.”

Gregory nodded, leaning forward and putting on a pensive look. “Still, an intruder. I wonder if it’s a group of thugs who got lucky.”

“Now that’s not a very polite way to refer to your rescuers,” a familiar voice said from the bathroom door.

Dengal and Gregory both rose quickly, on the defensive as they faced the door. There, leaning against the door frame, an amused grin on his face, was Tobias. “Toby!” Gregory exclaimed in a quiet voice. He ran over and threw his arms around his friend, who did the same in kind. “I am so happy to see you!”

Tobias grinned and patted Gregory on the back before rubbing his head against Gregory’s cheek. “Hope you and Denny’s here haven’t been up to anything naughty while you’ve been gone,” he said as he broke the hug.

“H-Hey!” Dengal burst out, not being as loud as Gregory had been. This earned her a simultaneous “SHH!” from the abyssinian and human. “Sorry,” she said with a chagrined tone.

“So, this is what you look like under that mask,” another familiar voice said from the bathroom. Gregory looked past Tobias and saw Sunset who was giving his face an appraised look. She held out her hoof and wiggled it back and forth. “Not as ugly as I thought.”

“We’re not that close that you can use insult humor on me,” Gregory replied sternly before breaking out into a small smile. “Not yet, at least. Good to see you, Sunset.”

Sunset scowled at him, then a small smile formed on her face. “Good to see you’re still in one piece,” she said.

Then, Gregory received a surprise. A third pony, a nox pony stallion, appeared from behind the door. He had a nervous look in his eyes as he waved a hoof. “H-Hello, Mister Gregory,” a familiar voice said.

Gregory stared at the pony for a bit before looking back at Tobias. “Who’s that?” he asked, although he suspected that he knew already.

Tobias confirmed it by giving him a wink. “He helped us sneak into this underground city,” he explained. “His name’s Thorax, and he’s a changeling formerly from Chrysalis’ hive.”

Gregory nodded, then looked at the disguised changeling. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Thorax,” he said, reaching out a hand towards him. Thorax hesitated, then reached out and the two exchanged a hand/hoofshake. “What brings you here, though?”

“Um…I sensed my queen here,” he explained.

“Gregory, we can talk about things later,” Tobias said. “We can get you out of here right now.”

Gregory shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. “There’s something you need to do. Sit down, everyone. We need to come up with a plan.”