Darkness left him once more after dipping into Luck’s room, giving a goodbye wave, and being teleported almost immediately back under the mountain and walking carefully back to the entrance, securing the last pieces of his gear into its proper position. Ducking down slightly, making sure his head would clear the doorway as he stood on the street, the smooth stone underneath him at a slight angle towards the harbour to his right.

  “Grandriel, he’s up here!” a voice shouted from his left. He turned the other way and had to slightly look down at the boy who had suddenly appeared by his side. There was no sign of armour or weapons on the boy. Norbert locked his eyes and opened his mouth. Before a sound came from his lips, the under elf boy had run off.

  Footsteps came up from behind him, and Norbert turned fully around as he looked towards what was coming at him. Up the last step, Norbert looked him in the eye as one word came to describe Grandriel: young.

  Compared to the five Under Elves that were in the room, trying to force his hand into what they deemed as a suicidal mission that only a crazy person would take on.

  “So, why did they choose you?” Norbert asked, looking straight at him. He saw the buckles and pockets all over his clothes, each of them bulging with whatever contents had been placed inside.

  “The interest of the unknown, though sadly, can’t be explored too deep into that unknown, because everything is trying to kill me down there.”

  Norbert looked up and down at the person, not seeing a single weapon on their body, or at least not a conventional weapon, and not knowing what exactly could be held within those pouches.

  “When are you free to go on this grand expedition?” Norbert asked him, noting the pack slung over their shoulder, seeing the clasp barely able to close.

  “Oh, I still need a couple of things,” Grandriel said, knocking Norbert to the side as he exited the building. He made it halfway down the block, heading towards the docks.

  “RMMHmm”, Norbert cleared his voice, trying to get Grandriel’s attention; as the Under-Elf continued walking away, Norbert noted that he had failed spectacularly on that mission.

  “How long will you take?” Norbert shouted down the road.

  Finally grabbing Grandriel’s attention, he turned around and said, “Oh, I will meet you back in a cycle.” As he continued off, Norbert raised a hand in the air, trying to stop him once more, when a hand landed on his shoulder.

  Spinning around, his cloak billowed behind him. He grabbed the limb that had touched him and held a dagger in his other hand, ready to take on the assailant. In front of him, one of the guards looked concerned. Their eyes moved from the dagger poised at themselves, and their hands started to drift down to their weapon if the dagger pointed at them. They decided to continue advancing.

  “Don’t bother with that one.” The guard muttered, still watching the dagger as it slowly lowered from their face.

  “He's eccentric?” Norbert asked, “And sorry about that, just the nerves.”

  “Must have been through Ann. It's not surprising if you made it down here.” The guard's hand lost from his spear, leaning against the weapon as it caught in the ground. “And eccentric is one way to put it with Grandriel. Head loose on that one.”

  “Is he going to be the hardest part of the expedition?”

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  “Better him than nobody; with the infestation and the back turns, it’s a complete nightmare. So good luck, you need it.”

  Norbert shrugged as he started following the path, heading towards the docks at the sight of Grandriel slipping into the crowd, forming further down.

  ***

  Sitting down at the docks, feet dangling over the side, he watched out across the lake to the fishing boats, pulling whatever was living in the lake from their nets. Looking up towards the ceiling, he saw the stalactites still up there, where previously he had come into this little city.

  Once or twice, Norbert would see the bugs that chased after him come over, the fishing boats obliterating them as they fell into the water. Each one around them caused the water to bubble and splash for a few seconds before coming to a still, and Norbert watched as none of the fishing boats came after the bug.

  “What's with the bubbles that happen after they splash?” Norbert asked aloud, feeling the eyes drilling into his back stop, feeling they had been caught in a nefarious act.

  “You can continue to watch; sure, you don’t get many visitors with them over here.” Norbert commented. Several broods on the cliff edge behind the waterfall, watching the city and its people, not daring to make the journey.

  Picking up the stone from the little pile he collected from around the place, Norbert tossed it up in the air once, twice, and a third time, feeling the energy around his body as he made its course. The energy was sent to his hand as he threw the stone, releasing the energy from within him, causing the stone to shoot across the lake.

  Norbert clamped down on the power right after releasing the stone, not wanting to break it apart and send its shards hurtling around the dock like a grenade accidentally dropped in the markets.

  The crowd around him oohed and ahhed, all watching as the stone smashed into one of the bugs. Norbert watched it take a step back from surprise. They all moved around in a panic, not knowing what had happened to make something appear out of nowhere.

  Norbert, smiling at the occurrence, picked up another stone, rolling it between his fingers as he waited for the bugs to come back around again.

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Grandriel shouted from the end of the dock, the Under-elf toeing the line between the hard stone and the wood that Norbert was standing on. With a groan, standing, he turned around; the entire dock was full of people looking at him, the children scurrying away after catching sight of him, now aware of the attention he was putting on the strange human.

  Norbert patted his own body down, billowing his coat out. “Sorry, I don’t have a timepiece on me.” Norbert came up beside the dock, again gaining into work as everyone started moving about again, the entertainment of the newcomer now leaving their area.

  “Where do we need to go?” Norbert asked, Grandriel continuing to look at him without uttering a sound. Norbert tossed all of the stones into the ground except for one, getting his energy to start moving again around his hand as he threw the stone to the other side, watching as it sailed through the air, his clothes billowing as it hit one of the bugs, Norbert finally seeing as it lost its balance, falling over the cliff with a splash, Norbert shooting his hand up into the air at his success of finally making one of them fall into the water.

  The corresponding bubbles and flapping water went over the area around it. Norbert turned his attention back to Grandriel, watching as the Under-Elf swallowed at the sight, nodding and scurrying away from the dock.

  Norbert followed the elf as they went further into the city, away from the dock area that he had combed over previously, trying to stem his boredom before the expedition. Passing the last of the low houses, Norbert stopped over the empty area around the cave, torches placed up to light the flat, barren land they now stood on the cusp of.

  Changing his vision to magic, Norbert saw lines and lines of spells just under his feet. He swallowed as he crossed it, feeling something rippling under his skin, sending a shiver up his spine as he passed through it. The smell of smoke and charred remains hit him.

  Their feet crusted through the ground as it snapped and crackled underneath him, dragging his feet as a white object flew into the air, him having kicked it up. Gulping at the sight of the bone, Norbert looked down at the ashy field, wondering what else was coming out of here for there to be this much destruction just on the other side.

  “And you choose to come down here?” Norbert asked.

  The Under-Elves smiled as they took a deep breath. “I just love the smell of the place.”

  Norbert swallowed once again. The only thing he could smell was charred flesh, and the memory of him in the mirror reached out to touch his consciousness once again.

  .