The cave Shadrick had pointed out was not far south, up the mountain from the Stormcloak’s camp. As they made their way toward its opening, Dardeh looked at Roggi and grinned.
“So, do you know Shadrick? From before, I mean?”
Roggi laughed. “No. He looks familiar, but I can’t say that I could remember where I’ve met him before, if I have.”
“He surely seemed to recognize you.”
“He did, didn’t he?” Roggi grinned. “Ah well. It’s probably not a good thing that so many of them remember me from the Palace. On the other hand, it’s kind of useful that they do, sometimes. It’s good for shock value if nothing else. I’m still surprised. Nobody ever followed me down into Steamscorch. They probably thought I died somewhere along the line.” As they squirmed their way through the narrow cave opening he muttered. “Sometimes it felt like I did.”
“Nope, you’re alive,” Dardeh said, hoping to change the direction of Roggi’s mood before it could go sour. “What is this place, anyway? Is it some old collapsed Nordic barrow?” They moved forward into the passage, at either side of which were what looked like pieces of old pillars, toppled over and leaning at precarious angles.
“Hmm.” Roggi stepped up to one of the pillars and ran a hand along it, examining the carvings. “No, I don’t think it’s Nordic. I wonder if it’s Dwemer. This area’s loaded with old Dwemer cities if you dig down far enough.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Dardeh said, making his way around the first turn in the passage. “Oh! Someone’s been in here alright.”
There was a small campsite set up at the edge of what seemed like a very deep pit just beyond. There were bedrolls, barrels, and a cooking spit set up over a still-smoldering fire ring; but there was no other sign of life.
“Interesting. This wasn’t the two soldiers, though,” Roggi said. “They didn’t bring barrels up from the Stormcloak encampment.”
“No. This has to be someone who was around for awhile. Bandits, maybe.”
Dardeh pushed forward, to the edge of the opening, and found a steeply sloped path spiraling around the edges of the pit. The drop wasn’t as far as he’d imagined but it would have hurt to fall from the top of it. No, he could see all the way down; and he could see two bodies on the floor.
“Yep, bandits. I’d guess our Stormcloaks took them out on the way in.” He made his way down the path and examined the two bodies as he passed them. They were cold, but they hadn’t decomposed at all. It made sense that they were very recently deceased.
There was an opening on the far side of this cave that led through a winding tunnel. At the third turn, several pieces of broken stonework made it clear that this was definitely a Dwemer ruin. Just above them was something Dardeh had hoped they wouldn’t see: a brownish, round opening that he knew from experience was an exit from a Falmer passageway. He tsk’d, and turned to point it out to Roggi.
Roggi nodded. Falmer couldn’t see, but they had keen hearing. Both of them knew enough to be as silent as possible.
And me with my heavy armor. Well, I will give it my best. I’m not exactly a quiet man.
That thought had him smiling, remembering his mother shushing him as a youngster as he ran noisily through the house. He’d never been a truly quiet person, not as a child and surely not as a miner, bellowing away tunelessly as he beat on the rocks. He glanced at Roggi once more and grinned, thinking that it was likely a good thing he’d never sung in front of this man with the mellow voice. I’d have scarred him for life.
Just beyond the Falmer doorway was a corridor, damaged by ground movement and sitting at a crazy angle. Along its upper edge ran two of the great steam pipes common to Dwemer ruins. Dardeh half expected to see them broken at their far end but they were intact. It was the room itself that had been broken.
He peered down over the edge. He couldn’t tell whether or not this was a corridor that had somehow fallen perpendicular to the one he was in, or a purposefully vertical opening. Perhaps there had been a stairwell, ramps, or one of the steam-powered lifts in this place at some point, but right now what he saw was a very deep hole with mostly-intact stone surfaces on all sides. It was truly disorienting. If the soldiers had come this way they might well be in pieces in whatever lay at the bottom. He saw a few ledges, though, at intervals on the way down; and so taking a deep breath and swapping a glance and a nod with Roggi, he dropped down into the unknown.
He made three jumps down onto masonry ledges. The fourth drop was going to require a lot of luck, as the only midway point was a set of steam pipes. He slipped a bit as his heavy boots hit the metal with a loud clang, but there was a wide ledge just below him onto which he jumped with a sigh of relief. From there, the construction was familiar. Wide stone ramps wound around the perimeter of the space from level to level, leaving space next to the walls for the various steam pipes and other mechanisms. He frowned, though, at the obviously Falmer screens erected as safety fences along the most dangerous of the openings, where a fall would kill any being. Dardeh really didn’t feel like playing with Falmer. He pulled his bow to the ready and started down the ramps.
A moment later a skeever rushed up from the level below him and attacked. A single arrow took it out; but as he lowered his bow a different arrow clattered to the stone just beside him. A lone Falmer archer was at the next platform down, backed up against the wall; and Dardeh marveled at how accurately it targeted him in spite of being blind. He started shooting at it, stepping aside into the shelter of the Falmer screens after each shot and waiting for its arrow to hit the stones. He was making decent progress on it when Roggi rushed down from above, sword held high, and attacked. He took one vertical swipe at the creature, then skewered it with an upward stroke and threw it back to the stones, dead.
Dardeh swapped his bow for his swords and continued downward, Roggi just behind him. There was another of the Falmer doorways above the next platform; and as he had expected, one of the creatures jumped out of it as he approached. This one was a simple warrior. On the wider expanse of the stone landing both Dardeh and Roggi were able to swing their swords, taking down the beast in just a few moments.
Finally, they reached the bottom of the shaft. There were no pools of blood, no crumpled Stormcloaks, and no sign of where they might be. Before them was a hallway, in the center of which was a metal groove that was the unmistakable hallmark of a whirling thresher blade. The soldiers must have known what it was, as well, for no blood spatters or pools of gore marred the corridor.
A short descending ramp led to an intersection, several of its openings blocked by debris. In the one to his left stood two Falmer. Dardeh held his breath and continued ahead and to the right, mouthing a silent prayer to Talos that they would be able to sneak past the Falmer; but just as he rounded the next corner he heard frost magic coming from behind them, followed by a grunt from Roggi. He turned back to find that both of the Falmer were mages, and both were casting spells on the big Nord. Roggi locked gazes with Dardeh for a moment and then backed up, slowly and painfully because of being slowed by the frost spells from one mage and lightning from the other.
“YOL – TOOR SHUL!”
The sound, trapped inside such an enclosed area, was almost deafening. The heat was intense, though, and that was what he had intended. The Falmer with shock magic doubled over, snarling, and Dardeh caught a whiff of a terrible stench as it burned. He hadn’t killed it, though; it stood back up and gathered magic again. Dardeh heard Roggi’s sword striking stone and glanced left to see that he’d managed to slice completely through the other Falmer and strike the floor. Dardeh rushed the remaining Falmer, trying to stagger it with his swords. It took one step back, swiveled, and tried to raise its hands to cast a spell; but Roggi swiped at it, pushing it back once more. Dardeh stepped in and hammered at it, and between the two of them the creature finally died.
Beyond the two dead Falmer there was only a narrow opening through the rubble of a collapsed wall. An icy tunnel beyond, likely excavated by Falmer, wound its haphazard way through the ruins to the foot of a stairwell where a broken Dwemer Centurion lay. Dardeh was just about to turn to Roggi and say how relieved he was that they didn’t have to fight it when the unmistakable sound of an armor spell being cast came from just above him. A Falmer mage had been squatting just behind a piece of debris, in front of the closed doors at the top of the stairs.
Both the mage and a skeever rushed out from behind the debris. Dardeh shouted Fire Breath at them, killing the skeever instantly and wringing a screech of pain from the Falmer. Roggi rushed up the stairs behind Dardeh, but Dardeh had the Falmer on its back and vulnerable and killed it just a moment later.
Beyond the double doors was the ruin of a Dwemer city. There were huge planters, beautifully-carved solid panels creating corners and directing travel, and open grates affording a view of still-operating machinery. Dardeh was walking quietly along the corridors admiring the workmanship that survived after who knew how many centuries when Roggi called, “Is someone there?”
Dardeh pulled his bow up and swiveled to see what if anything was ahead of them, only to be hit. He had just a fraction of a moment to register the Falmer and the chaurus before the latter’s poison landed squarely in his face. It burned, and stank, and blinded; and he could feel himself sinking with every second that passed. Roggi pushed him aside and ran ahead. He could hear the battle that ensued but all he could do for himself was stumble into a corner and start casting healing on himself once – twice – and again a third time before his vision cleared and the poison’s effects stopped accelerating. He heard Roggi cry out and ran to help.
The chaurus wasn’t spitting, any longer, but its pincers were heavy enough weaponry on their own and it was snapping at Roggi with them. Beside it, the Falmer cast frost-based magic, leaving clumps of freezing spikes at intervals on the floor. Dardeh pulled his swords and waded into the midst of them, aiming for the chaurus at first but slipping past it and zeroing in on the Falmer when it became obvious that Roggi had the chaurus well in hand. It took several very long minutes for the two enemies to go down.
“That was a little too close for comfort,” Roggi whispered as he came to stand beside Dardeh. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I am now. I don’t like the looks of what’s up there, though.”
Ahead of them was an ornately-carved but oddly-shaped corridor, perfectly cylindrical. The space beyond its far opening looked like a huge, icy cavern, possibly a natural one, at the edges of the Dwemer ruin. The huge cylinders had perhaps been drainage or utility tunnels built to enhance access to the city and tall enough for most of the mechanical constructs to walk through. Mist obscured what the cavern contained, but not enough to disguise obviously Falmer huts and walls.
“Great. More Falmer.” Roggi grimaced.
“Yeah. I’ll be more careful this time.”
They crept up the first slope in the cavern, past the seemingly-empty hut, and around a corner. Dardeh froze: there was a lone Falmer crouched at the opening of another long cylinder. He took aim at it with his bow and loosed the arrow, but to his dismay it completely missed the Falmer and sailed harmlessly past into the space beyond it.
How in Oblivion?
Dardeh reached up and rubbed his eyes. Must be the chaurus poison still.
After a moment he tried again. This time the arrow sank deep into the Falmer. It staggered forward. Dardeh grinned, knowing that he’d done serious damage, and stepped forward.
Suddenly, where there had been one Falmer there were three. There was a second Falmer hut in the corner that Dardeh hadn’t seen before, and two spellcasters had been in and around it.
“Come on!” Roggi shouted, slamming into the first of them. Dardeh tsk’d and fired another arrow at the first Falmer he’d seen, staggering it. Roggi stepped backward leaving just enough space between him and the two spellcasters for Dardeh to shout fire at them. The wounded Falmer couldn’t withstand the flames and dropped, dead. Dardeh reached for his swords and spun to attack the nearest of the two spellcasters.
The next few moments were a blur. The Falmer Dardeh was fighting was casting sparks, and Dardeh had no special protection against shock magic. It drained him of stamina as well as health, making it harder and harder to keep fighting. He would slice with each weapon and then struggle to step forward for another round of attacks, trying to dodge the spells. Slice, slice, step… By the time the final blow caught the Falmer across the neck his heart was pounding and he had no choice but to stop and heal himself.
The second spellcaster was attacking Roggi with the same tactics. It would swipe at him with its axe, then cast sparks for minutes at a time while getting into a better position. Roggi seemed to be holding his own, though. Heavy as the greatsword was, he was used to letting its weight do the work when his own stamina was drained. Even though he grunted and moaned at the pain of the shock spell he kept pushing forward, using what stamina he had to raise the sword and then drop it down onto the Falmer. Dardeh pulled out his own swords and slipped around behind the creature while it was focused on Roggi’s heavy breathing, and sliced it nearly in half with the double-edged sword.
They stood looking at each other for a moment, Roggi panting with exertion and Dardeh still trying to get his own legs completely under him again.
“You ok, Roggi?” he whispered.
“Yeah. Give me just a second,” he said.
Once they had both regained their breath they moved deeper into the cavern. The Falmer had tunneled further into the spaces between debris piles, and the passage they’d made led around a corner, opening up at the base of a huge cavern with multiple staircases up into it. Like many other old Dwemer cities this one had multiple platforms staggered vertically in huge caverns; and on these wonderfully open, flat surfaces the Falmer had erected their own villages. One such collection of huts spread across the platform at the top of the stairs just above Dardeh and Roggi. Dardeh could see at least two individuals moving about on the second level up, and spotted a number of conical huts.
He crept up the left staircase, hoping to find a decent vantage point from which to fire arrows at the Falmer he could see. What he discovered, though, was that there was another Falmer – and another chaurus – just at the top of the stairs in front of him.
He dropped down just off the platform, to his left, and to his amazement the Falmer didn’t detect him. Instead, it and the chaurus both focused on Roggi and attacked. Dardeh was able to sink two arrows into the chaurus before an ice spike flew across the open space and buried itself into Roggi’s arm. Dardeh turned, spotted the Falmer, and Shouted.
The flames didn’t kill the beast but did send it scurrying backward, which gave Dardeh another opportunity to use his bow. Ducking in and out of sight behind the Falmer’s hut he managed to hit it twice; but the Falmer he had seen above them picked that moment to rush down the next flight of stairs and join the battle. Dardeh heard the crunching sound that meant Roggi had defeated the chaurus and then saw him rush across the open space into the three Falmer.
Dardeh swapped out his bow for his swords and sprinted for the stairs, pushing around Roggi and slicing to ribbons the archer who had been blocking his way. Another archer just ahead and to the left took several minutes of furious attacks and a number of healing spells to dispatch. A slightly distant part of Dardeh’s mind observed how much more easily he could heal himself with magic; he snarled and gritted his teeth against the realization that Hermaeus Mora had given him that power.
That is not something I wanted.
The mage Dardeh had first fired his bow on had retreated up the stairs behind the archers and then back along the upper platform. It stood at the very edge, firing ice spikes at Roggi, who shouted “Damn you!”
Dardeh sprinted for the Falmer, intending to knock it down. In the process, he ran into Roggi’s arm as well, sending him stumbling to the side.
“What are you doing?” Roggi snapped at him as he and the Falmer both fell over the side and crashed to the platform one level down.
Trying to save your life, Roggi.
He was struggling to get to his feet and take hold of his swords when Roggi leapt down almost on top of the Falmer, slashing as he came. “Is this what you want? Eh?” he snarled at the creature, which screamed and then fired one more ice spike at him.
Dardeh finally got close enough to lay into the Falmer, and at last brought it down. Once more he found himself trying to catch his breath, leaning on his own knees for support. He looked sideways up at Roggi and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Roggi grumbled between his own deep breaths.
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s like you’re always saying. We make a pretty good team.”
Roggi snorted. “And one of these days we’re going to get each other killed.” Then he, too, chuckled. “I guess it’s better than being bored, though, isn’t it.”
“Sure is.” Dardeh stood slowly, knowing that the next day was going to find him with a multitude of sore muscles. He groaned. “Damn, Roggi. I’m getting old.”
Roggi tossed back his head and laughed, a full-throated laugh that carried through the vast open space. He stopped, hushing himself with a grin but shaking his head. “Yeah, Dar. Picture what I feel like!” He chuckled again. “Sorry that was so loud. I probably pulled every other Falmer in the place.”
“Don’t worry about it. We can get them.”
Roggi looked around as though truly noticing the place for the first time. “Heh. When I was a boy, my friends and I used to play “seek the Wumpus” in caves much like this.”
Dardeh snickered. “Did you, now? And did you find the Wumpus?”
Roggi took a couple of steps closer to Dardeh. Even in the dim light Dardeh could see his eyes sparkling.
“No, never did. Maybe you and I should try? Suppose we could find a Wumpus in here?” Roggi’s voice took on a low, sultry quality that suddenly had Dardeh’s body doing things he would never have expected it to do in the middle of a Falmer camp.
It took him a second to catch his breath and find his composure before he said, “Maybe we should wait until we’re sure we won’t have company.” He was pretty certain that Roggi could see his smile, though, even in the dark.
“Up to you,” Roggi answered, leaning forward to nip at Dardeh’s ear, his beard tickling at Dardeh’s neck as he moved.
“By the Nine, Roggi!”
Roggi chuckled. “I’m sorry. I know. We need to keep moving. But there was just something about the idea of having a dragon of my very own. I’ll have to tell you what I was thinking later on.”
Dardeh nodded and cleared his throat. “Sure. Sounds good. Sounds real good to me.” His voice was a bit weak-sounding to his own ear. But at least I managed to speak. Talos help me. This man.
They returned to the upper deck and searched the area carefully, checking behind the huts and the screens to be sure there were no Falmer hiding there. A stone ramp at the far end of the deck led up and to the left, around the perimeter of the cavern; once they had made sure they were in the clear Dardeh made for the ramp and started up it, quietly, his bow at the ready. At the top was an enclosed corridor, perhaps an entryway, the large metal light source turning it almost blue rather than gray.
It’s too quiet. There’s something in there waiting for us. I just know it.
He readied the bow and crept up by tiny increments until, as he had expected, he caught the movement of a Falmer pacing back and forth in the corridor. He let fly the arrow he’d drawn and made a solid hit on the beast. Then Dardeh turned.
On the way up the ramp he’d taken note of several places where it came very close to the cavern wall. There were spots where a person could make a short jump onto the rocks and disappear into the shadows to line up another shot, especially if that person happened to be wearing black armor. That was what he did. It wasn’t that he needed to hide from the Falmer, for Falmer were blind. But as he’d anticipated, the Falmer also had a chaurus with it, and the chaurus needed to see him in order to spit poison at him.
Roggi rushed the Falmer. The chaurus was behind it, stuck in the narrow passageway above, and so perfectly backlit against the blue-gray stones that Dardeh had no trouble sinking arrow after arrow into it. It was barely moving when the Falmer slipped on the stone ramp, coming in range of Dardeh’s Fire Breath and dying shortly thereafter to the dragonbone greatsword as Roggi swung around to hammer it down onto the creature’s head. Dardeh swiveled immediately after Shouting and fired one last arrow into the chaurus, sending it dribbling down off the edge of the ramp and crashing to the floor beneath.
The covered corridor ended in another upward ramp, toward another covered platform, containing yet another Falmer archer. Dardeh stood just beneath the lip of the ramp and fired arrow after arrow at the beast, which looked around in confusion, unable to locate the source of its pain. Once it was staggered, Roggi rushed up to end the creature.
This corridor opened to what once must have been a spectacular place. Steam pipes and ornate stone pillars framed a platform with what seemed to be an altar of some sort, a chest of Dwemer make just before it. Beyond the altar, Dardeh could just make out an area of Falmer fencing. He slipped back a step or two and pointed at it.
“Looks like a corral or something,” he whispered.
Roggi nodded. “That’s probably where they are, if they’re still alive.” Dardeh nodded, and started forward, but Roggi stopped him with one powerful hand on his arm. “No. Look,” he said, pointing to a spot between them and the altar. A crouched figure stood and moved to their left, then squatted down again.
I didn’t even see it. I would have just walked right into an ambush. Roggi saves me again.
He nodded and readied an arrow, then slid forward as silently as he could. He was able to catch the Falmer with three rapid shots and was going for a fourth when motion just below the level of his feet startled him. The Falmer had a pet chaurus and it, of course, had started for them as soon as its master had been hit the first time.
A few moments later both the chaurus and the Falmer were dead. Dardeh couldn’t really remember what had happened. All he knew was that everything in his stomach was threatening to find its way out, right then, whether he liked it or not, following the chaurus poison that had hit him squarely in the face for a second time. Some of it had gone into his mouth, and while he spat it out he couldn’t quite get himself together. He knew he had fought well, and that Roggi was with him, but it took a few minutes of heaving and several heal spells before he truly came back to himself.
“Gods, Roggi,” he said, shaking his head. “That is the nastiest. I need…” He started to rummage around in his pack, but Roggi interrupted him by handing him a bottle of mead.
“Try that. It’ll help get rid of the nasty taste,” he chuckled. Part of Dardeh’s mind wanted to wonder why Roggi – who’d become so careful about such things given his personal weaknesses – was carrying such a thing. The rest of his mind just grabbed for what was bound to be relief.
“Oh thank you.” He leaned back against the cool stone and took a mouthful of the mead, swishing it around in his mouth and then spitting it out. Then he chugged the rest. It did wash the nasty taste out of his mouth, for certain; it also took effect on his head almost immediately. He set the empty bottle down on the stones and laughed.
“Whee. I probably shouldn’t have done that. Hope you can see where we’re going, and I hope we aren’t going to have more Falmer friends for at least a few minutes.”
Roggi chuckled, and stepped closer. “You’ll be fine.” A moment passed, and a small smile played around his mouth. “I’ll guard you with my life.”
Dardeh’s heart rose. “Roggi.” He didn’t care that they were far underground, in an abandoned Dwemer ruin, surrounded by Falmer huts. He slipped his arms around Roggi’s shoulders, and drew him into a long kiss.
“I’m sorry, Roggi,” he said after he pulled back. “I’m sorry I get jealous of you and I’m sorry you have to put up with me. And I’m so, so sorry that I Shouted at you. You’re my one and only. You know that, don’t you?”
Roggi smiled. “Yeah, I do know that Dar. And it’s mutual. I’d… appreciate it if you didn’t do that again. But I love you, Dardeh. Remember that.”
Dardeh nodded. “Ok. I will. I’ll try. Should we continue?”
“Got your legs under you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m better. Thank you.”
They found that the fenced area was locked. Dardeh made several attempts to pick the lock; but his head was still spinning. After the second lockpick snapped, Roggi laughed.
“Let me handle this one, Dar.” He knelt down and only a second or two later had the gate open. “I told you I’m an expert at that. Don’t ever hesitate to ask me to do it.”
As they had hoped, two Stormcloak soldiers sat in the enclosure, looking miserable. Dardeh approached the first of them.
“Can you walk? We need to get out of this place before we get more visitors.”
“What? Who are you?”
“My name’s Dardeh, and that’s Roggi. Shadrick Oaken-Heart sent me to find you.”
“Shadrick? Oh gods, I can’t even imagine how much trouble we’re in. … Wait!” The man jumped to his feet. “Did you say Roggi?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I know that name! By the Nine! You’re not taking me to be tortured, are you? I didn’t do anything except come exploring!”
Roggi stepped forward. “What’s your name?”
“Henrick… sir,” the soldier said. “And this is Garding.” There was a grunt from the shadows, and the second Stormcloak soldier nodded.
“Henrick, I’m not an officer. And even if I were, I worked for Ulfric. I’m a Stormcloak. I’m on your side, son,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Henrick shuddered. “I’m s-sorry. I guess I’m jumpy because I’ve been down here in the dark too long. I didn’t mean any disrespect, it’s just that we’ve heard… things…”
Roggi sighed. “Yeah, I know. Some of them are even true. Don’t worry about it. I’m an old man now and I can’t hurt a fly.”
Dardeh couldn’t help himself. He started laughing, and laughing, and pretty soon was wiping tears of laughter off his face.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh… I’m a little punchy. It’s just that… you should see this guy cleaving up dragons, Henrick. Anyway, let’s get out of here.”
“Dragons! Wow.” He pointed to a lighted alcove just past the corral. “Anyway, there’s a lever over there. I think that’s the way out. Thank you, friends.”
The Dwemer lift took them to an icy cave near the surface, not far from the opening they’d used to drop into the Sightless Pit in the first place. It was snowing hard, outside the cave; but after the closeness of the air inside the ruin, and the stench of Falmer, Dardeh was more than happy to step out into the clean, icy air and head back down to the Stormcloak’s campsite.
“We found ‘em, Shadrick!” Dardeh called as they entered the campfire’s light.
“Well!” he said, his eyes widening. “It’s a miracle they were alive! Thank you. And as promised, I have dispatched a runner to deliver your proposal to Ulfric. But there’s one thing I need to know.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t understand how Valerius is involved in this plan. I can’t believe he’s still alive, much less rebuilding a town. He’s just not the sort to do such a thing.”
“Ahh. Of course. Did I not mention that it’s Marcus Jannus who is rebuilding Helgen?”
Shadrick started laughing. “By Ysgramor’s beard. Marcus Jannus in Skyrim, too? I should have known it.” He grinned. “Oh the stories I could tell you about those two! But we would need a few weeks. I served with them for many years, you know? Shor’s bones, I certainly didn’t expect today to turn out like this when I woke up!”
Roggi chuckled. “Neither did we.”
Shadrick nodded. “Please, let Marcus know we should be there in a couple of days.”
“We’ll do that,” Dardeh said. Then he walked to the edge of the camp, where Roggi had wandered over to stand by himself.
“What do you think? We could go to Windhelm ourselves, if you want. Say hi to Frina, all that.”
Roggi shook his head. “No, let’s head back for home. Maybe stop off at the Nightgate or something.” He leaned in close to Dardeh and whispered in his ear. “I have a story to tell you about a Wumpus.” He grinned and started jogging south toward the pass.