A few hours later, Abaddon woke Daegal up from his nap.
"Hey, Daegal, wake up; we're almost there," said Abaddon as he tapped Daegal's back lightly.
"Huh? Oh right, they'll need my ID for us to pass, correct?" Said Daegal as he woke up.
Aine was still asleep. Daegal got up, but his body was still asleep and was moving quite sluggishly. They approached the guard post, and a lot of carriages were, for some reason, going the other way.
"It looks like the border is going to be quite rough," said Daegal.
A lot of carriages were rejected entry to Pulchra-more than usual. Most of them looked to be traders; however, the fancier-looking carriages passed through quite easily.
Daegal got back in the driver's seat and began leading his carriage towards the guard post. As he approached the guard post, another trader who was going the other way said to him, "Don't waste your time!"
"If there are any issues, I'll take care of them. But I would like to see the situation at the border, so I'll hide back here," said Abaddon as he hid inside the carriage, behind crates of goods.
"Understood," said Daegal.
"*yawn* Are we there yet?" Aine said as she woke up from her nap.
"We're at the border now, just wait inside," said Daegal.
Daegal stopped his carriage right in front of a border officer. A gigantic barricade that was blocking the border kept any unauthorized arrivals out. Also carefully guarded by high-ranking enforcers was the border.
The border officer began inspecting the carriage as Daegal stepped down from it. Weirdly, the officer did not check inside the carriage and therefore did not see Aine, Abaddon, or even the gremlin.
"So, can she pass? Here's all 'er documents," asked Daegal casually.
The officers barely looked at the documents. "No, back you go," he said.
"What? But I have all the proper documents, and I have pretty expensive things to sell to boot!" Exclaimed Daegal.
"Back up, or else I will use force," said the officer as he prepared to take out his sword from the scabbard.
Daegal stepped back, trying not to start a fight.
"Woah, there's no need for violence," said Daegal.
"I don't like your attitude; how are you going to make me like you?" Asked the officer.
"I have fickens, please; there's no need for that," said Daegal as he read the room.
Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Abaddon and Aine were hearing everything unfold. Abaddon got out of his hiding spot.
"Hey, Aine, care to play along?" Asked Abaddon as he took out a rope.
"What do you mean by that?" Asked Aine.
Abaddon tied both of Aine's hands behind her back, and they walked out of the carriage through the back. Abaddon was standing behind Aine.
"What's all this commotion about?" Shouted Abaddon as he walked out.
"H-H-H-H-H-H-Herald Abaddon?! Whatareyoudoinghere?" Panicked the officer.
Everyone on the border fell silent as a result of Abaddon's presence.
"I didn't know this was your carriage," said the officer trying to save face.
"How can you not recognize my official carriage? Are you perhaps just that incompetent?" Shouted Abaddon.
"No, sir, I'm sorry; please forgive me," begged the officer.
"I should have you stripped of your ranks for drawing your sword at my most prestigious coachman," said Abaddon.
"Please, my lord, have mercy!" begged the officer even more as he got down on all fours and bowed.
The officer was scared shitless.
"Is my lord perhaps escorting this prisoner?" Asked another, higher-ranked border officer.
"Of course, this person has been convicted of illegal magic usage," said Abaddon proudly.
The prisoner was, of course, referring to Aine, who was playing along.
"I'm much stronger than any of you can imagine; I will have your heads hung!" Shouted Aine.
"Alright, that's enough, you scum," said Abaddon.
Abaddon looked at the officer, who was on all fours, begging for his life.
"Have this man stripped of his ranks and let me through!" Shouted Abaddon.
"What no! Please, have mercy! I beg of thee, please, don't do this! This is all I have," pleaded the begging officer.
The begging officer was then dragged away by his former colleagues and subsequently publicly shamed for failing to recognize a herald's coach.
A few minutes passed, Abaddon and Aine got back in the carriage, and another border officer walked towards Daegal.
"You are free to proceed; welcome to Pulchra," said the officer as he handed Daegal his documents back.
"Thank you very much, and please don't repeat this; my lord is quite unhappy," said Daegal dismissively.
"Ah, yes, our apologies; if it would help, there is a small tavern a little further into the cave that functions as a rest area," said the scared officer.
Daegal got back in the driver's seat as his carriage began to move past the border.
"Well played, Abaddon," said Aine.
"Oh, come on, I can't take all the credit; you play that prisoner role really well," said Abaddon.
Aine and Abaddon both laughed.
"Alright, you two, who's hungry? We deserve a treat after that kind of performance," said Daegal.
"I am! But where are we going to eat?" Asked Aine.
"Well, that border officer mentioned that there is a tavern in this tunnel; how about we take him up on that offer?" Said Daegal.
They entered the tunnel that connected Pauperis and Pulchra. The tunnel was long-so long, in fact, that it goes through the entire Obice Mountain Range. The dreary tunnel was kept alight by kerosene lamps that were hung on its walls.
The tunnel's structural integrity was kept in tip-top condition with wooden beams that would appear every so often. The wood looked old; however, it also looked sturdy and reliable.
"I can't believe this tunnel went all the way through the mountain," said Aine.
"Well, it wasn't made without bloodshed," said Abaddon.
"Bloodshed?" Asked Aine.
"It is stated that when Deimos assumed power, he enslaved dwarfs by the thousands to dig this tunnel. However, I do not know all the details, for I wasn't alive at that point in time," said Daegal.
"You are quite informed, Daegal; that would be factual. Deimos did in fact do that," said Abaddon.
Deimos' reign had been absolute for countless years. How many people has he hurt? How much has he killed? How long has it been since this world was stripped away from its sun? How long has he gotten away with this?
Before Aine could give it more thought, something was in the distance.
"That's the tavern that the officer mentioned," said Daegal.
The tavern was built into the wall. Apparently, it is entirely run by dwarfs and is quite popular among them. The tavern was, however, made of wood.
Daegal stopped right in front of the tavern. Everyone got down from the carriage, all except one.
"Hey, gremlin, come down," said Aine.
"No, it is quite alright, Mistress. I am quite used to this," said the gremlin.
Aine looked at Abaddon, trying to signal something.
"A slave must not interrupt the conversation, nor should it attend the meetings of its masters unless completely necessary, and it shall keep watch over its master's coach," said Abaddon.
Aine looked back at the gremlin with slight pity.
"I'll get you something," said Aine.
Daegal, Aine, and Abaddon walked inside the tavern. The tavern was desolate; it looks like the lack of people crossing the borders means fewer customers for them. As they entered the tavern, someone came to greet them.
"Welcome to the Tunnel Taver-... Herald Abaddon?" Said the dwarf, who was the bartender, as she couldn't finish her sentence from the shock of Abaddon showing up.
"No need to worry; I am not here on official business; I am just here to show some of my associates around Pulchra," said Abaddon in a lax tone.
"O-Oh, alright, then please take a seat," said the bartender.
The bartender was short, almost the same height as Mr. Fabble from back in Moon Village.
They all went to their table and took their seats. The menu was graciously given to them by one of the servers. Aine looked at the list of items with fascination.
"Order anything you like; I'm paying," said Abaddon.
Aine was overwhelmed by the number of options they offered. From stew to bread to chicken, Aine was left indecisive. A server came to take their order.
"Can I take your order?" Asked the server.
"Yes, can I have the, uh, chicken and mushroom stew and some draft beer, please?" said Daegal.
"I'll have two portions of chicken roasts, please, and also with your finest wine," said Abaddon.
"Alright, and what about you, young lady?" Asked the server.
"I'll have the, um, any recommendations?" Asked Aine.
"Our bacon is highly rated," said the server.
"Then I'll have that, and I want his drink," said Aine as she pointed to Abaddon.
The server relayed the order to the other employees in the back.
"Aine, are you even old enough to drink alcohol?" Asked Daegal.
"What's alcohol?" Asked Aine.
"Aine..."
"No, seriously, what is it, and why does it have an age requirement?" asked Aine.
"Daegal, don't worry; whatever happens, happens," said Abaddon.
Their food arrived, and Daegal and Aine began demolishing it. Aine hadn't eaten anything but snow boar for the last few weeks. Aine took a sip of wine and...
"Why is it hot?" Asked Aine.
"That's alcohol," said Daegal.
"Who drinks this torture device of a drink?" Asked Aine.
"Me, apparently," said Abaddon.
"Alright, nah, I ain't drinking that. Give me something sweet," said Aine.
"She wants juice!" Shouted Abaddon from across the tavern at the bartender.
Minutes later, the server would serve up Aine's juice. Aine continued to eat her portion of bacon; it even had some cooked Brussels sprouts on the side. The bacon was perfectly crispy and juicy.
"This is delicious!" said Aine.
"I can't get enough of this stew; maybe I should stop here more often," said Daegal in a gleeful mood.
"This wine is also not bad," said Abaddon.
Satisfaction filled the air. Aine was just happy that she could eat something other than snow boar.
"Check, please," said Abaddon.
A server ran with the check and gave it to Abaddon.
"Wait, before you pay, do you do takeout?" Asked Aine.
"Of course we do; what would my lady like?" Asked the server.
Aine looked at the menu once more. Abaddon looked at Aine skeptically. Abaddon knew that Aine was planning something.
Aine ordered food to go, and Abaddon paid for everything. They walked back to the carriage in bliss and contentment. Aine was walking to the carriage with a paper bag containing something in hand; there were grease and oil marks on the base of the paper bag.
The gremlin was waiting in silence inside the carriage; it looked lonely.
"Hey, gremlin, catch," said Aine as she threw the paper bag at the gremlin.
The gremlin caught the bag as Aine and Abaddon hopped in the carriage, and Daegal prepared his horses to move once more.
"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got you some chicken wings and fries," said Aine.
The gremlin looked inside the bag to see the food; its face lit up immediately.
"Your gift, my mistress, has truly humbled me, and I will thoroughly appreciate it," said the gremlin, overflowing with gratitude.
"That's right, gremlin, enjoy it. That's probably the only meal you're getting for the next week," said Abaddon.
Aine looked at Abaddon with a face filled with disgust.
"You only feed it once a week?" asked Aine.
"Sometimes less, maybe once every two. Why? What's wrong?" said Abaddon smugly, then confused.
"How is it alive?" asked Aine with such a confused tone.
"Well, gremlins are very resilient. They can survive for months without food or water. So, I'm not exactly torturing it," said Abaddon.
"This is true! Master feeds me very well. The gremlins who live in far worse conditions than I do consume significantly less food," said the gremlin.
Aine was slightly more calm after that explanation. Aine thought that Abaddon was borderline torturing the gremlin, which, although it is a slave, Aine can't help but feel bad about the treatment it gets sometimes.
The carriage began to move, and the last conversation piqued Daegal's curiosity.
"So, gremlin, what species are you?" asked Daegal.
"Gremlin is gremlin," said the gremlin.
"I'm not sure either, but a lot of nobles seem to have this specific species of goblin as their slaves," said Abaddon.
"Ah, it's a goblin. It must be from one of the more intelligent species, then, yes?" asked Daegal.
"I wouldn't say intelligent; it was just trained pretty extensively," said Abaddon.
"That's right! Before I had the pleasure of being the master's slave, I had to go through grueling training," said the gremlin.
Aine was confused once again. Why would goblins want to be put through "grueling training"? It sounds like more of a torture program than anything else. Does that mean that gremlin wants to be slave?
"Gremlin, do you want to be a slave?" asked Aine straight out.
Everyone fell silent.
"Gremlin is not sure how to answer that. A slave is all of my life; I don't know any other," it said.
"Anyways, gremlin, how's the food?" asked Abaddon, trying to change the subject.
"Delicious, my master! Thank you once again, Mistress Aine," it said.
Aine felt unsatisfied with the gremlin's answer; she feels that there is more to the gremlin's story. However, she couldn't really pry. She decided to just suppress those feelings for now and save the hard-hitting questions for another day.
They continued on their trip to Pulchra through the tunnel. With full stomachs and friends to talk to, Aine feels that this tunnel will not be so dreary after all. The only thing in the way of them and Pulchra was time; they just had to be patient.
As the hours passed, their boredom began to show. There is only so much you can do inside a tunnel. There were no sights to be seen-only rocks and stones.
Thankfully, Daegal had a deck of cards prepared. Daegal and Abaddon switched places in the driver's seat as Daegal, Aine and the gremlin began playing cards.
"Boom! Perfect 21! I win!" celebrated Daegal.
"Go fish," said Aine in a dead-pan voice.
"Uh, Aine, we're not playing Go Fish," said Daegal.
It looks like Aine's brain cells have begun rotting away from sheer boredom. Although humans aren't supposed to be able to die from boredom, Aine would like to beg to differ. She was going through all nine layers of hell with this one. She was this close to wanting to return to her frozen exile at the top of the Obice mountain range.
"We're barely halfway through the tunnel," said Daegal.
"I'm in hell!" Shouted Aine.
"Aine, you don't even know what hell is like," said Abaddon.
More hours passed on this torturous carriage ride. Now officially over halfway through the tunnel, they set their sights on finding a place to take a break before finishing the last leg of their journey to Pulchra.
"It seems we are approaching a dwarven village," said Daegal.
"Hey, Daegal, I've been meaning to ask you: why doesn't your horse run?" Asked Aine.
"I just don't want to tire her out. She's pretty much the only friend I have on my journeys," said Daegal.
"Does she have a name?" Asked Abaddon.
"Amber," said Daegal.
Amber did a short neigh right after her name was said.
"It seems like she likes that name," said Abaddon.
As they were talking, an alternate path in a mostly straight tunnel was coming into view. It went left, and there was a sign that said, 'Dwarven Village'.
"Alright everyone, that's our pit stop," said Daegal as he led the carriage to the alternate path.
They began heading towards the nearby dwarven village in hopes of finding a change of pace. The alternate tunnel was far smaller in size, a far cry from the large main path. It was also darker than the main path.
"Hmm, it's really dark. I don't remember it being this dark," said Daegal.
"From what I know, dwarves aren't the lazy type. Despite that, this entrance looks neglected," said Abaddon.
As they continued down the tunnel, Amber suddenly stopped moving.
"Why did she stop?" Asked Aine.
Daegal took his lantern and jumped out of the carriage. He inspected the area in front of Amber while also comforting her.
"The path has caved in," said Daegal.
Abaddon got down from the carriage and inspected the rumble.
"This is recent, probably just a few weeks ago," said Abaddon.
"Oh, um," Aine said, noticing something important.
"What is it, Aine?" Asked Abaddon.
"Could it be the avalanche from when I was learning fire magic?" Asked Aine in a guilty tone.
Abaddon began thinking. It would make perfect sense that that avalanche would cause this cave-in. It lined up perfectly with the timeline.
"Most likely," said Abaddon.
"Huh, I guess that's it," said Daegal.
Daegal got back on his carriage and began backing it out of the small tunnel and back to the main path. Abaddon also began helping Daegal to safely get his carriage out.
"But what about the dwarf village?" Asked Aine.
"It's none of our concern," said Daegal.
"They're dwarfs; they work the mines for a living; I'm sure they'll be able to get themselves out," said Abaddon confidently.
Can they really just leave the dwarves to fend for themselves? Aine doesn't think so.
"Are you sure?" Asked Aine.
"Yes, Aine, they will be fine; you have my word," said Abaddon.
Daegal and Abaddon successfully got the carriage out of the tiny tunnel. Aine followed behind them.
"Well, there goes our plan for a break; the only thing we can do is just keep going to Pulchra," said Daegal.
"At least we tried," said Aine.
They hopped on the carriage and continued on their trip to Pulchra. What they failed to notice were two shadows following them.
A man and a woman popped up from the shadow and hid in the tunnel where the dwarf village was to be. Daegal, Abaddon and Aine were already quite far from the tunnel.
They wore entirely black clothing and were able to use magic that helped them camouflage themselves and turn into shadows.
"That's herald Abaddon, alright," said the male shadow.
"He has associates with him too," said the female shadow.
"By the looks of things, they didn't go through the tunnel to the dwarf village. We can't have them figure out what we're doing in there," said the male shadow.
Something malicious and possibly devious was brewing, and Abaddon, Daegal and Aine had no idea.
Meanwhile, inside the dwarf village, the masses were in a state of hysteria. Something was clearly wrong; the air was cloudy, and the dwarves were struggling to breathe. More figures wearing all black clothing are seen enjoying the village falling into ruin.
"We are the children of the sun," said one of the black figures, who was dressed more extravagantly.
"We give you the gift of the sun," she continued.
She reached into her pocket and took out a capsule. The capsule opened and released a blinding light. The dwarves screamed in agony as she laughed maniacally.
Back in the carriage, Aine and Abaddon were having a conversation about Pulchra.
"So, how much longer until we get to Pulchra?" Asked Aine.
"Best case scenario, 4 hours," said Daegal.
It seems that their journey to Pulchra is far from over. Aine and Abaddon decided to play some more cards in the meantime.