After entering the mine, Seran suggested we turn right instead of going straight. Not knowing what new changes the Evil One had done recently, I agreed. We found the room that had helped hatch and house Niddhogg II and Tiamat. Seran read the sign out loud, noting that it mentioned Queen Padfoot of Dolf-Hloab. “Nothing here has changed,” I told Seran and Hitomi.
We continued on down the main tunnel and reaching the main cavern area, I again passed out some more food I had with me to many of the various species. I noted that the pair of deer had had some babies. Seran made anti-racial remarks about how all these beings should be sterilized since they would take up too much room and crowd us out of our homes. I tartly suggested that if we were going to sterilize anyone it should start with him. He said that it was too late since he already had one woman pregnant. I insisted that perhaps his ability to procreate needed termination so he could not continue contributing to the overcrowding problem he himself noted.
Seran stepped over to the largest werewolf and did not listen when I tried to warn him to stay away since she was only protecting the smaller children with her. He died quickly.
I heard Hitomi scream. I whipped out my bow and nocked an arrow. “Hitomi!” I shouted. She did not answer.
Garrick’s oily voice resonated through the cavern. “Peek a boo.”
“What trouble have you caused now? Where is Hitomi? What did you do to her?” I demanded, my ire rising in response.
“Nothing,” replied Garrick. “I just showed her my true form. She screamed, got scared, and disappeared. I did the same with Seran, just because you’re no fun to play with others around.”
“I’ll just bet she did run,” I thought. I shuddered, not wanting to imagine what Garrick’s true form might be; viewing it was sure to be a repugnant and smelly experience. He never bathed. Poor Hitomi and Seran. They may have gone blind.
“What are you up to now Garrick?” I asked. “What mayhem have you caused today?”
He answered with a questionable air of innocence. “I’m just checking up on my reserve army in case my primary one fails.” He transformed into a short brown dwarven creature and tapped a wall in the gold mines to make it move aside.
“You wouldn’t dare kill my reserve army,” said Garrick slyly. I suspected what he was up to but sought to distract him with words, knowing that words were all I had. I put away my arrow in my quiver, but kept my bow ready.
I scoffed. “What a load of nonsense! As if anyone will care once you have destroyed everything.” I snorted in derision. “You will have no toys to play with anymore then.”
“As long life exists, I will always have toys,” answered the oily voice. “I got bored of nonliving action figures years ago.”
“Then stop destroying it!” I said angrily.
“I’m perfecting it by destroying the imperfection,” said Garrick. He sounded mildly amused. “And believe you me, this is 90% imperfection.”
“You love so much to cause pain and suffering to innocent beings. Why don't you save us the trouble and just off yourself? You are the imperfection,” I dared to accuse Garrick.
“My reserve army doesn’t believe so,” said Garrick proudly. “They see me as their savior. ‘The Messiah’ they call me!’
“Then you have been lying to them!” I snapped. “I see you clearly for what you are; a busybody troublemaker with too much power who is bored.”
I spread my arms wide and looked upward. “Mighty Torrix, have mercy on these beings and smack Garrick's butt but good. Goddess Ollopa give me wisdom to fufill your quest!”
“Still praying to the false idols I see,” said Garrick, amused.
“And you are still just as foolish as ever, I see,” I countered. “What are you up to now?”
“Well, I’m going to go down this tunnel here and see my reserve army,” answered Garrick.
Acting as if reluctant, I rolled my eyes and walked into the gold mine section of the main cavern. “I cannot fit through that tiny crevice, so c'est la vie, shorty!” I stared down my nose through the crevice at Garrick who was dressed as a short creature, with all the condescension I could muster. Then, with no small amount of satisfaction, I turned and walked away, leaving him there.
“I think I’ll name this army the Dioscuri Army or maybe the Dwarven Army,” said Garrick, trying to taunt me.
I nodded, my suspicions confirmed. “I thought as much,” I said aloud.
“I still can’t believe it. They consider me their Messiah!” Garrick sounded quite gleeful.
I was quite sure the poor creatures did hold him in high regard. “You are truly a master at wrapping a tiny amount of truth with a walloping amount of lies, Garrick,” I agreed.
Just then I heard Hitomi’s voice. “Sheila?”
“Hitomi?” Relieved to hear her voice, I called out again. “Hitomi, where are you? Are you all right? Do I need to singe Garrick’s eyebrows?” I added silently to myself with no small amount of bitterness, “Because that would be about all I could do.”
“I am fine and hanging back with the panthers,” replied Hitomi.
“Stay away from the panthers,” I told her. There was no telling what Garrick would do with his minion panthers if Hitomi did something foolish. “I understand that!” she said, sounding annoyed at me.
Just then Seran’s voice rang out. “I'm back.”
I began filling them in. “Supposedly Garrick has brought in the lost Dioscuri, Ollopa's children, as a reserve army to destroy the world.”
I spoke again to the Evil One. “Garrick, you have no feelings at all,” I snorted and stomped my foot for emphasis, hoping to distract him so he would tell me more about the Dioscuri.
“They’re only a back up, if somehow you manage past my Drow army,” oozed Garrick’s smooth voice. Garrick continued, “And the Drow army is only a back up, if you make it past the Dados.
I firmly squelched down my alarm at hearing about the Drow army, managing to look bored. “And are you going to tell us what a Dados is, or are you hoping to keep us in suspense?” I rolled my eyes again and crossed my arms.
“If I told you what or who a Dado is, then you’d know how to defeat them. You wanna see my Dioscuri? Come on!” Garrick actually sounded impatient.
“Sounds to me like you are a little scared Garrick,” I sneered.
“Just covering my tracks and only divulging info that I know can’t be used against me,” Garrick said lazily.
I turned to Seran and Hitomi and whispered, “Shall we look down the new tunnel?”
“Sure whatever,” whispered Hitomi. “I’ll just follow you.”
“It could be a trap,” whispered Seran. “I say we send in Hitomi to make sure it's safe. No one will care if she gets killed.”
“Seran!” I felt quite shocked. “No! I will care. Hitomi is a citizen of the Elven nation and I will not willfully see her hurt if I can help it,” I whispered.
Seran turned to Hitomi and asked, “Can we use you as a decoy?”
Hitomi looked surprised. “O.O, huh.”
“We'll be two steps behind you,” Seran said reassuringly. I harrumphed angrily.
Hitomi, foolish as ever, surged ahead of us. “See, she wants to be the decoy,” said Seran.
I shook my head, and following Hitomi, I pulled out some arrows and kept my bow ready. “Torrix help us.”
We went down the dim tunnel and it opened into a large cavern with a small door set into the opposing rockface. There was a smaller adjoining room to one side containing a curving stairway, decorated with carved crosses set into the walls and a large statue set before some pews and chairs. Garrick was not in sight. Hitomi ran around like a demented rabbit, flitting everywhere.
“What is this Garrick? Your office?” I taunted, hoping he would reveal more.
“That's a statue of Dabbler,” said Seran. He took a closer look and nodded in confirmation. “That's definitely Dabbler's image.”
“He was always kinda snobbish looking,” I replied. “So is his statue.”
I stalked out of the smaller room and turned around in the large empty cavern. “So Garrick, what is this all about? I see no army of any kind here. I see naught but an empty room and an empty tunnel. I suspect it matches your empty head!”
There was no answer.
“We need to be dwarf-sized to continue on,” noted Seran. “This door was built so only dwarves can go further than this.”
I considered the door thoughtfully. “Perhaps so. I am short but not that short!” I turned to Seran. “We need to tell these creatures the truth about Garrick whoever they might be.”
“We were just being taunted with if this is only as far as we can go,” said Seran.
I knelt and prayed aloud. “Lady Ollopa, give me wisdom. Guide my steps so that I may help free your lost children from the tyrrany of Evil Garrick.”
I stood, filled with righteous indignation and the memory of Goddess Ollopa wanting to find the Dioscuri. “Garrick?! You leave these races of people alone! You have no right to interfere with them! How dare you mess with innocent folks, and cause such pain and suffering! You seriously need your powers removed.”
Silence was the only response.
“You got a lot of nerve! Maybe your de-nutting of power needs to commence today,” I snarled.
There was only the echo of my own voice and our breathing.
The memories of the day had filled my mind so much that I came to myself with a start in the Monastic Library, in front of the fireplace. I got up and stretched, my joints stiff from sitting so long. I handed the empty glass from my drink of water back to the night attendant now on duty and told him to have a good evening. I left and headed home for a wash and to my waiting bed.
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