The Foolhardies 18 Panic Room

After the battle outside the entrance to Broken Sellsword's Canyon, the city guard marched me, Luca, and Varda to the open massive iron double gates.

Onlookers gave way while they gawked at us. Some had sympathetic faces that showed they understood we were just trying to help. Others looked disgustedly at the two humans who'd overreached themselves. Luckily, Aura and Edo weren't part of this walk of shame and were nowhere in sight.

As we got closer to the cliffs, I glanced over at Luca and noticed how he averted his eyes from the imagery carved into the cliff walls. I understood why, of course. They reminded him too much of his own circumstance. I, however, thought it was a shame we couldn't spend a few minutes to look upon it.

It would have been a sight to see despite their dark theme, the giant stone wall sculptures depicting the cruelties of slavery in larger-than-life imagery carved onto the sandstone walls on either side of the iron front gates. The gates themselves loomed over us at a height of sixty feet, and although half-open in a gesture of welcome to travelers seeking to enter the city, the fact that they were solid iron, a metal most harmful to fairies, seemed like a grave warning to would-be troublemakers.

Unfortunately, the sharp shadowblades poking at our backs left no room for us to admire the architecture. As we passed through these iron gates, I thought about how we had become the troublemakers. After all, we looked like a party of criminals being paraded down to a jail cell.

I sighed. "I don't suppose they'll just let us off on a warning..."

Beside me, a grumbling Varda shook her head. "If they find us guilty of lawlessness, they'll give us a punishment that fits the crime. Might even take away our rights as free people and sell us off as slaves."

Luca stiffened. "They could do that?"

Before Varda could answer him, she received a poke from behind along with an order to shut up by a city guard.

We walked silently past the gate and into the canyon that was way beyond anything I could have thought up in my imagination.

There was a wide cobbled street snaking forward into what was obviously a city shaped out of the surrounding rock. And I'm not talking simple-type cave dwellings either but sprawling sandstone mansions hewn out of the canyon's inner walls. There were also magnificent looking stone-cut towers spiraling up into the night sky which seemed to be carved out of the naturally formed, giant stalagmites littered across the canyon grounds. On both sides of the road, five-foot light-emitting gemstones stood at equal intervals and shared their luminescence to a crowded city entrance full of fairies of all kinds.

I wanted to explore this visually captivating city before me, however, a glimpse was all I could manage at the moment as the guards had shoved me and my companions toward the first dwelling right after the gate.

Carved out of the sandstone wall on our immediate right was a three-floor structure of rough-hewn bricks similar to that of one of New York City's famous brownstone houses, but designed in the sharp edges and linear patterns indicative of dwarven style masonry. Orange banners similar to the tabards the guards wore hung over the structure's exterior. Right next to it hung the sapphire flag of Lover's Embrace with its two embracing skulls-and-crossbones coat-of-arms painted onto it.

It was a reminder to me that we were not in friendly territory and I would have to watch what I said if I didn't want more trouble than we were already in.

There were a set of sharp steps that led from the cobblestone sidewalk up to a square opening of an equal measure of eight feet in both length and width. It was another dwarven design quirk.

They led us up these steps, through the opening, and into an interior of polished stone walls and square pillars that reflected the dwarven design of the exterior. Smaller versions of the light-emitting gemstones hung like torch sconces on the walls. The floor was volcanic rock tiles while the furniture was a variety of marble that had been shaped into sharp-edged chairs and tables with wool upholstery.

This was mostly guesswork as I only had a passing understanding of dwarven culture. It was more my interest in architecture which was on full display earlier when I gushed over my first glimpse of the city that made me curious about the masonry work put into this building.

After this entry hall, most of the guard who escorted us into the city dispersed into other areas and duties. Only two guards took my team through a few more square pathways and arches that eventually landed us in a box-like room with only chairs and a single wide table for furniture. There were no windows in here. Just polished stone walls and luminescent gems clinging to them.

The guards left us in the room after we'd followed their orders and found chairs on the other side of the table. As we faced the entryway, a stone slab slid down the square opening like an automated garage door.

"Dean, I don't like this..." Luca whispered in my ear. "I really don't like this."

It was only then that I remembered that he had stress-related anxiety issues that presented itself as claustrophobia. I'd almost forgotten this as we spent most of our time outdoors under the canopy of the night sky with its twinkling stars and brilliant golden moon.

I ruffled his hair. "Hang in there, Luca... We'll get out of here as soon as we explain the situation."

"That's not likely going to happen," Varda interjected. "This is one of their tactics. Sweat them out until they go crazy and talk..."

I knew that, but Luca might not have. This annoying fact drove me to give Varda a meaningful look that told her to shut up about it.

Varda raised her arms in surrender. "Sorry... I forget how fragile human psyches are..."

I facepalmed myself as I heard Luca groan involuntarily. Varda could be pretty clueless, especially when it was a time to be delicate. This was a trait she and Qwipps Daggerby shared.

Luca lasted a full thirty minutes before he started biting his nails. This was the first sign his anxiety was reaching intolerable levels. The second would be hyperventilation. Luca, like most people who suffered from anxiety attacks, reached a point where they couldn't breathe properly because of breathing too quickly.

As this used to happen a lot after dad's accident, I always kept a puke bag or something similar to help him calm his breathing. Sadly, he had exhibited none of these symptoms in the Fayne and I'd forgotten to stay prepared.
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"Varda," I whispered in her ear. "Say something..."

"What should I say?" she asked.

"Anything... maybe a joke?" I asked.

"Dwarves don't joke around too much, Dean... We're very serious people," she hissed.

That may have been true for her but I recalled her uncle getting trounced by Great General Darah for being a little too sarcastic.

"Then make something up," I hissed back. "It's an order, Quartermaster."

"That's an abuse of authority, Commander!" she countered.

"You realize I can hear you two, right?" Luca interrupted our banter. "I have anxiety issues. I'm not deaf."

There was a loud exhale of breath from Luca. "I'll be okay... you don't need to keep watching over me, Dean..."

"What are you talking about, Luca?" I patted him on the back. "I'm the big brother. It's my job to watch over you."

"Look where that got you?" Luca gestured to the thick stone walls that surrounded us. "We're stuck in here because I was too dumb to mind my own business."

"Luca..." I began.

"You're not supposed to be here," Luca's voice was rising. "You're supposed to be in school getting top grades or hanging out with Ty and Arah or taking care of mom... anywhere but here!"

"Luca," my voice was a little higher now too.

Anger. Rage. Guilt. These were common emotions for people dealing with anxiety. Luca was just better at holding it in than most people. But he certainly wasn't holding it in now. It was like a dam had burst inside him and he couldn't stop himself from spilling his guts out now that he'd begun.

Luca was shaking his head. "You almost died fighting Azuma... and that was because you're here risking your life for me!"

I sighed, knowing there really was only one thing I could do to turn things around. Now, what I was about to do to Luca wasn't something I recommend trying with other people who had anxiety. I just knew my brother best.

Before Luca's anger could intensify any further, I smacked him hard on the head with a karate chop.

"Enough of that now, you here?" I said, in an authoritative tone.

Luca looked scandalized. "W-why did you do that?"

"So you can focus..." I placed both hands on his shoulders. "Why are we fighting, Luca? What are we fighting for?"

It was in the seriousness of my eyes and the intense look I sent him that made Luca's breathing stabilize.

"We're fighting to rack up as many accomplishments as we can to attain a wish from the clan leader," he answered, calmer now.

And just like that, he was all better. Sure, he was still claustrophobic and looking paler by the minute, but at least he'd taken back control from the anxiety playing tug-of-war with reason inside his brain.

"Aww, you guys are so close," Varda said cheerfully. There was a sparkle in her eyes when she said, "Bromance is so cool!"

Not only did this ruin the moment, but it really made things weird.

"Geez, Varda... I didn't know you were interested in that kind of stuff," I complained.

"W-what?" Varda protested. "I-I meant nothing weird by it, okay? I was simply saying that having brothers is cool and I wish I had one... Mine are all dead..."

If the mood could get any weirder, Varda's last statement certainly turned it up a notch.

"Want to talk about it, Varda?" Luca asked.

Although his fingers were grasping tightly against the hem of his cloak, he gave Varda an encouraging look.

It was times like these when he would offer someone his help despite his earlier outburst that I really appreciated having him as a little brother. Although I will never ever tell him this. Wouldn't want him to get a big head.

"Well... if you guys really want to know," Varda mumbled.

"Sure," I answered while inwardly thinking that this was the exact thing I asked her to do earlier.

Varda's tale was very dark and tragic. So heavy in fact that I promised myself to buy her something nice when we left this place and finally got to do what we came to do which was to shop for new gear and get the Foolhardies some new recruits.

Varda, who was thirty-two and only two years out of her pebble years—the dwarven term for a teenager—was the youngest of nine in a dwarven military family belonging to The Hermitage, one of the strongest and only dwarf-exclusive clans in the entire Fayne. Like most fairy clans, their internal struggles were bloody and very brutal, leaving a lot of bodies in its wake. Varda's father was a dwarf who had been in line for the patriarch seat but a rival faction killed him and eight of Varda's older brothers in an effort to cull the competition. Varda and her mother, who had gone to visit her mother's brother, Commander Vardoom, were the only ones spared. Thanks to Vardoom's connection to Great General Darah, Varda and her mother were allowed to become members of the Trickster Pavillion as they would have been killed if they returned to the Hermitage.

I don't know how long Luca and I were quiet after Varda finished her tale, but we both spoke at nearly the same time when we tried to comfort her. This made her laugh.

She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "You humans are so emotional..."

"You realize you're the one who's teary-eyed, right?" I corrected her.

"Dean... so are you," Luca was giving me an exasperated look.

"Leave me alone," I dabbed at my eyes with a piece of my brown cloak. "I'm a sucker for tragedies..."

This made Varda and Luca laugh. Eventually, I joined in on them, and we laughed and laughed until our stomachs hurt as this was always the result for those who indulged in hysterical fits of laughter.

In the middle of our hysteria, the thick stone door slid up and all three of us quieted down.

The female who walked in to greet us was no dwarf. She was at least a head taller than Luca with an even brighter shade of red hair than ours. Also, it was burning at the tips. With her soft, round eyes, perfectly straight nose, and pouty lips, her face would have been gorgeous were it not for the fiery scale markings on the sides of her cheek and around her violet reptilian irises.

"You're a salamander," I realized.

The salamander's eyes narrowed.

She placed a sharp-nailed hand—also covered in fiery scale patterns—on her curvy hip. "And you're Dean Dapper. The human who stopped Azuma's rampage in the Calmlands."

At the mention of my rival, all thought of wanting to get to know this beautiful fire elemental vanished from my teenage-boy-brain. Instead, a bright warning sign of danger appeared in my mind's eye.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked.

"Azuma's a fairly popular human around these parts," the salamander answered. "It would be our business to know who defeated him."

"Who's we?" I pressed.

The salamander pointed to the sapphire symbol pinned to the front of her rather revealing breastplate. It was proof that she was a clan member of the Lover's Embrace.

"What do you want with us?" My hands grasped on nothing but air as I'd forgotten that we'd surrendered our weapons.

I sensed Varda and Luca stiffen beside me.

They readied themselves for a fight that wasn't coming as the woman simply turned around and strutted toward the door. Before she crossed the entrance, she turned her head so she could cast a sidelong glance at me.

"We want nothing from you... yet," she answered, almost playfully. "You're free to go. Enjoy your stay at Broken Sellsword's Canyon."

Just like that, we were free.

Chapter end