—— ? ——

  Simon's feet crunched as he moved through the frozen landscape. Before him the mountain loomed with every step. It had been less than half an hour since he left Varnholt's southern gate and he was already nearing the worksite.

  On either side of the path he passed stacks of stone laid in neat stacks. Various races swarmed the entrance, unloading large chunks of stone from dolly looking carts then returning back into the mountain.

  He was taken back by the scale of the "tunnel project" that he had only heard of. Simon had imagined the tunnel would be a simple walkway or way through the mountain.

  Instead, what stood before him was a massive hole. It was about thirty feet wide and fifteen feet tall. Glowing crystals lined it, causing it to glow as it stretched into the distance out of sight. It curved downwards slightly. Massive metal struts were spaced what appeared to be every couple of feet. On the outside of it, a large archway was ornamentally carved into the cliff face. The beginnings of a construction of what appeared to be a gate was underway.

  Simon approached, hearing the sounds of rock scraping, loud voices, and the sound of chisels. He scanned the worksite spotting a large, hulking figure. Simon grinned as he recognized the stone mason Kurda, and he turned towards him. The big man was bent over a stone slab that had stacks of papers. He gestured at the plans on the stone, quickly exchanging words with the person across from him.

  Simon moved towards him, still amazed by the scale of this project. He took in the ornamentally carved beginnings of the gate house, the piles of stone, and then his gaze shifted back to Kurda and his companion. The person across from Kurda looked to be one of the 'Celestials', a soft amber glow radiating from beneath her dark skin. She was listening to Kurda, when her eyes flicked towards Simon. Twinkling amber eyes brushed over him, then snapped back as she did a double take. Her lips broke into a grin, as she quickly said something to Kurda.

  The big man stopped mid sentence then looked back towards Simon. The behemoth of a man broke into an ear splitting grind and he waved.

  ?"Oi! Simon!" Kurda's bellowed, his voice echoing across stone and snow.

  Simon waved back, then picked up his pace closing the distance to the pair.

  "Hey Kurda!"

  “See yer found some new clothes. Kurda said, his voice dripping with mirth. "Watcha yer’ do, murder a bunch o' hoppers and roll in ‘em?"

  ?Simon rolled his eyes. "No, I have Emmrick to thank for this horrorshow."

  “And yer’ agreed to wear it? If yer’ that desperate, I’m sure I’ve got a set or two er’ clothes yer’ could borrow.” Kurda said, laughter bubbling up. He looked at Simon with a mixture of pity and mirth.

  Behind him, the amber glowing celestial let out a small chiming laugh before quickly covering her mouth.

  "Appreciate it man, but I think I'm going to have to stick with this onesie for a bit." Simon sighed. " You wouldn't guess by its appearance but it's actually a uh... Masterwork?"

  Kurda inhaled sharply, cutting his laughter off. His eyes narrowed and he studied Simon's outfit.

  "That's a damn Masterwork?"

  "According to the status window."

  Kurda's eyes changed to a look of hunger and he stepped in close. The man towered over Simon who had to tilt his head back to keep eye contact with the giant. The stonemason's gaze seemed to absorb the macabre bunny attire.

  "Could yer send it to me?"

  "Huh?" Simon said, then his mind caught up. "Uh... Sure I guess?" He mentally found the clothing's details then looked at Kurda.

  "How exactly do I do that?" Simon asked, trying to remember if someone had done this before. Didn't Kaelalin d--

  "If you focus on the description of your clothing and then mentally will it towards Councilor Kurda, it will allow him to read it." said a soft voice on Simon's right. The celestial had moved closer while him and Kurda were speaking. Her eyes were also picking Simon’s clothing apart with unnerving focus.

  Simon gulped, then took a step back. "Ok, thanks." He paused then met the amber eyes of the speaker. "You want to see it too?"

  "If you don't mind." The woman said, her voice nonchalant, but her eyes radiating intense interest.

  "Yeah, no problem." Simon smiled weakly, then mentally slammed the description towards the two. A split second later, both Kurda and the Celestial woman's eyes went distant.

  ?After a heartbeat, Kurda let out a low whistle.

  “Well chisel mai’ ass and call it ‘er brick– that’s ridiculous.”He stared at the bunny outfit with a mix of respect and wonder.“Emrick was ‘er this mornin’, braggin’ left, right, and center. Crowing about how he made himself a Masterwork. Can’t even tease yer’ ‘bout how it looks anymore."

  He shook his head, his eyes distant as he seemed to reread the prompt.

  "What'cher think Ryne?"

  The celestial exhaled then slowly shook her head as well. "Absolutely astonishing. Councilor Emrick has outdone himself."

  Kurda nodded, then looked back at Simon. "Simon, I would wear yer’ outfit no matter how it looks." He said with a hint of a smile.

  ?Simon looked down at the furs encasing his body. The red velvet stitched between the furs still looked like they were about to drip blood onto the snow.

  "Yeah... " He shook his head, then looked back at the two. "Maybe just outside of town though. It gets quite the reaction from people."

  Ryne smiled at him. "I could imagine." she tapped Kurda on the shoulder. "I'll get back to working on the gatehouse is you are satisfied with the changes."

  "Oh shit. My bad." Simon said. "Didn't mean to interrupt a meeting."

  "Bah." Kurda waved his hand dismissively. “ Ain’t much of a meetin’ when her designs are so good. She just wants me to give ‘er a pat on the back for bein’ brilliant.”

  Ryne blushed, color filling her cheeks and the light from her gems pulsing in waves. "No! Your advice has been extremely helpful with my designs--"

  "And there yer’ go lyin’ again. " Kurda shooed her away. "Off with yer. Make a masterpiece outta that there gatehouse so yer’ can rub it in ole’ Emrick’s face.”

  Ryne looked like she wanted to say something, but then let out a breath. "Alright." She turned to Simon, and nodded towards him. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Simon Starfall."

  Simon nodded back and watched as she quickly headed towards the front of the tunnel.

  Kurda harrumphed. "That one’s quite the architect.." He shook his head. "Best damned designs I’ve ever seen for defenses. By bedrock, I’d swear she’d take mer’ job if she cared about anything beyond walls and towers.”

  ?"She’s that good?" Simon asked.

  "I put ‘er in charge of the walls, gates, towers, and such.” He smiled. "I'd let her do more, but that's all she seems to care ‘bout."

  "Guess you're stuck then."

  ?Kurda let out a sigh. "Aye..." His eyes scanned the worksite. "All I need is someone to take der’ damn meetings and such. Then I could just work with good ole’ stone all day."

  He turned to Simon. "But enough of that. Let me show yer’ the tunnel. How long I got yer’ for?”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Simon shrugged. "Honestly, this is all I have planned for today."

  "Excellent!" Kurda boomed, slapping Simon on the back causing him to stumble. "We’ve got a whole lotta work and not enough hands ‘ere to do it!”

  Kurda took a large stride towards the tunnel entrance, beckoning Simon to follow.

  Simon rubbed his shoulder, his back smarting slightly from the overexcited back pat.

  God damn he's strong. He thought as he hurried to follow Kurda.

  They moved to the tunnel, drawing stares as they approached. The workers would gawk at Simon for a brief moment before they would look at Kurda. As they made eye contact with the big man, they would drop their gazes and shuffle away or move quickly to finish what they were doing.

  Odd. Simon thought as they passed the arch.

  Kurda waved at Ryne as they stepped beneath the perfectly cut stone into the mountain.

  The tunnel seemed even larger from inside. In contrast to the gatehouse, the inner walls had almost no complexity or ornate carvings. The tunnel had an almost unnoticeable slant downwards as the walked. The walls and ceiling were perfectly smooth with small cutouts every twenty or so feet. These cut outs radiated light from something that was attached to the wall. Simon moved close to inspect one and Kurda explained it was something that the Celestial crafters made. Aside from the cut outs, the tunnel's only other noticeable feature were metal arches embedded in the walls every couple hundred feet. They spanned almost two feet and went from wall to wall like the ribs of a ship.

  ?They kept moving deeper down the tunnel, Kurda pointing out various types of stone as they walked. He went in depth on how hard the material was to cut and stopped at one section.

  "This here’s a kind o’ stone I’ve never seen before.” Kurda gestured toward the glowing red and blue stone that moved across the carved tunnel in bands. "Stronger than anythin’ we’ve hit so far. Shame it’s too brittle to use.”

  The blue and red stone glimmered in the light of the celestial glow stones.

  "It's pretty though." Simon mused, feeling the red and blue stone. The two colors were distinct within the bands. Instead of joining together, it seemed like the red and blue were opposing each other and had faint gaps between the hues.

  "Yeah, it’s pretty. But the two colors of the rock seem to hate each other or something." Kurda shook his head. “Pull it out of the wall and BAM! Don' t want ter’ be anywhere near it when yer do.”

  Simon looked down at the stone one last time then quickly moved catch up with Kurda. Beneath his feet he could feel a texture the miners had left in the floor. Unlike the walls, the floor wasn't smooth, allowing those walking on it to grip the floor.

  They continued to descend. As they walked, Simon noticed the amount of other people in the tunnel diminished. They passed several branching smaller tunnels that lead up and down on either side of the tunnel.

  "What are the side tunnels for?" Simon asked.

  "Greedy, lazy artersans who don’t know how to finish a damn project.." Kurda growled.

  okay then...

  ?Kurda and Simon walked in silence for a few minutes before Kurda let out a sigh.

  "Bah… I should explain." He paused their walk at a junction and gestured down a tunnel. "Right here’s where all the others are workin’."

  Simon could hear the faint sound of metal on stone from the side passage.

  "Sounds like they're pretty busy."

  ?Kurda grimaced. "They could be finishin’ the tunnel…" He sighed. "Maelis’s got ’em diggin’ for metal he says he detected.."

  "Who is Maelis?" Simon asked.

  ?Kurda raised an eyebrow. "You don’t know him? The Yoreboon that was questionin’ Kaelalin durin’ the council meetin’."

  Simon thought back to the meeting and his mind sparked as he remembered. "Oh yeah. Grim scarred looking guy. Told Kaelalin she wasn't qualified to make judgements about the hellscape of a realm we had escaped." Simon looked at kurda thoughtfully. "That guy?"

  Kurda nodded. “That’s the one.”

  "Has he had any luck with his stick problem?"

  "Der… stick problem?" Kurda said, puzzled.

  Simon grinned. "Based on how he talked, he's had a stick go missing near his ass. He could probably use some help finding it."

  Kurda let out a deep laugh, like bellows slammed together. "Oh yer right!" He clapped his hands to his sides. "Definitely still serchin’ for that stick."

  ?he wiped a tear from his eye and then continued to walk down the tunnel, Simon following alongside him.

  "Yah, but no, he’s got all the others convinced to follow him down that there side passage to find metal."

  ?Kurda shook his head.

  "We need metal for sure, but we’ve got mor’ than enough to finish the tunnel. I keep tellin’ ’em we’ll go huntin’ for more once we’re done here."

  He let out a long sigh.

  "Let me guess." Simon said. "He wants to go looking right now and doesn't give a shit."

  Kurda nodded.

  "And last time they went diggin’ they found that lake." Kurda spat. " Damned fools. Took a whole day to block that flow and even more ter’ drain it."

  Simon glanced around the tunnel. There was definitely a dampness to the stone that he hadn't really noticed but now as clear as day.

  Kurda grew silent as he brooded. Simon decided it was best to leave the man to his thoughts and just looked at the tunnel around him. Minutes passed as they went deeper and deeper. After roughly thirty minutes of walking, Simon finally couldn't hold it in.

  "Holy crap, Kurda this tunnel is insane. It's fucking massive."

  Kurda smiled at him. "Yer’ that’s true. The mountains in this new world of ours aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen."

  ?Simon nodded, trying to estimate just how far they had traveled. It had to be what, like half a mile? He looked up at the stone roof. Just how much rock was above them? He knew the mountains defied anything he had ever seen on earth but this was ridiculous.

  ?He glanced forward and in the distance saw what seemed to be a wall. They had finally come to the end of the tunnel.

  "And ‘er we are!" Kurda exclaimed, waving towards the area. "And here we are! ‘Bout three-quarters through the mountain now." He said proudly.

  Three quarters? Damn.

  The tunnel ended against solid stone, the area filled with empty dolly things and tools scattered about. Massive hammers, mauls, chisels and a bunch of tools Simon didn't recognize. Large metal braziers were scattered around, large multicolored brightly glowing gems mounted where a fire would have been. On the side facing the end of the tunnel the braziers had lenses that focused the light from the gems like spotlights.

  The wall at the end of the tunnel was a dark gray stone that was outlined in white. Simon stepped towards the edge that met the wall and examined the white material.

  "Interested in the guide stone?" Kurda asked.

  "This stuff?" Simon replied, pointing at the vividly white stone that encircled the edge of the wall.

  Kurda nodded. "There’s a Frost-kin who can mark stone with that there color– real useful for outlinin’ where ter’ cut.”

  "Interesting." Simon said, leaning in for a closer look. Now that he looked at it, the texture of the white stone was identical to the stone around it. It looked like it had just been dyed.

  "That guide stone runs all the way to the exit point on the other side–” Kurda squinted one eye, and bit his lip. "--or it should, anyways"

  The chestnut toned man strode over to a box and pulled out various hammers. He kept glancing at Simon, then gave a satisfied grunt as he pulled one out.

  “Here. This one oughta be good for yer’.”

  Simon grimaced, but then quickly schooled his features. He took the hammer from him then swung it experimentally. It was heavy as shit, and immediately slipped out of his hands and clanged on the ground.

  "Whoops."

  Kurda scoffed. "Yer’ supposed to hit the wall with it, not swing it like a child with a toy.”

  "Yeah, my bad..." Simon said sheepishly as he bent over and picked up the hammer. "Never really used a sledge hammer."

  Kurda scratched his head. "Well, yer’ got any skills for workin’ stone?" he gestured toward the tunnel's end. "What’s yer’ trade?"

  Simon slowly replied. "Hitting stuff till it stops moving?

  ?Kurda blinked. “And what d’you use to hit ’em with?”

  ?Simon grimaced. Come on, don't fuck me over here you damned skill. ?

  He set the hammer down and held out his right hand. With a mental pull, he felt the familiar skill activate in his center and the cold energy pour down his arm. Simon closed his eyes, grimacing and silently prayed to this skill.

  Don't be a kazoo. Don't be a cowbell. Just be something cool. please. please. please.

  *POP!*

  ?Simon felt the instrument come into existence in his hand. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt the weight of it in his grip.

  He cracked his eyes open and looked at his hand.

  Hell yeah!

  Simon grinned towards Kurda, brandishing the black and red metal electric guitar.

  "Normally with something like this." He beamed, overjoyed the skill had summoned something substantial.

  Kurda frowned and squinted at the instrument. "“What’re yer’ gonna do with that?”

  Simon shrugged. "I have a few skills I want to try. One of them is pretty damn good at breaking stuff."

  "All right then." Kurda nodded approvingly. "Have at it. Yer’ work that wall, I’ll start cuttin’ the space for the next arch." He gestured up the tunnel. White lines marking a slot that mirrored the metal arches Simon had seen.

  "Sounds good to me!" Simon said, turning to solid wall of stone. He thought back to his fight in the realm of the forger and the cracks that had lanced through the wall from his skills.

  Yeah, this is going to work. He thought with a grin.

  “Let me know if yer’ need any help!” Kurda called back, already moving away.

  "Will do!" Simon yelled back, then faced the wall.

  Alright. Just hit the wall until my skill activates and it crumbles. Simon grinned.

  Easy enough, right?

  It was time to go to work.

  —— ? ——

  — AUTHOR NOTICE —

  BOOOOOOOOOOOOYAH!

  THE DICTATION IS WORKING! HELL TO THE YES.

  Thanks for reading!

  ~TheBusyBard

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