These final words still haunted Borth as he recalled them in the full light of
day. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Borth opened it to find
Nellis on the step. They greeted as Vagha brothers do, pounding the other's arms,
stepped back to take a good look at each other. In the year he had been away Nellis'
face hard hardened. He had a look of determination on his face, a fierceness set
into his features like iron. His waist length beard had been plaited into a trio
of braids and tucked into his belt. Borth couldn't suppress the look of admiration
he gave his adoptive brother. "Three braids now. You have been busy.
Nellis grinned widely. "I thought you'd heard about the third. In the last
skirmish with the trogs I singlehandedly slew a score of the creatures, and
saved the commander's life as well."
"Always the glory hound, eh Nellis." The brother's laughed and embraced again.
After a simple meal Borth cleared the dishes and shared a pipe with Nellis.
"Suppose you tell me what really brings you back now."
Nellis took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Perhaps you've heard rumors..."
"Of the bogey-men of the Wild Marsh? Yes, we have all heard them. Children
disappearing, animals mutilated and so on. Even Kessil is beginning to believe
that tripe."
Nellis leapt to his feet, overturning his chair. "It is not tripe! Those
things are real. I have seen them myself. They live in the swamp and worship
Death. They are more serpent than bogey-man, and they strike to capture, not kill."
"Why would they rather capture?"
"Because they exert their influence over all of the beings they get their hands on."
"Sacrifice?"
"Worse. Do you remember Felspar, the boy who trained with me?"
"I only met him two or three times, but I think I remember him. Why?"
Nellis did not reply. He strode to the door and picked up a small sack.
"He was captured by one of the raiding parties. Look at him now."
He reached into the bag and removed the head of Felspar. Borth overcame
his initial revulsion and examined the head more closely. Felspar's eyes
were narrow, like slits, his front teeth had become fangs and the stump
of his neck was covered in scales. He had become part snake.
The council wasted no time in ordering forces to help out along the
border. Nellis was promoted to the rank of Patroller, and put in charge of
a force of fighting men. Two days after he arrived in the city he marched
out again in charge of a platoon of warriors. The council decided that the
threat from these Yuan-ti, a Vagha term for snake-men, was serious enough
that it warranted sending every possible dwarf. The old guard post had
gradually been less and less heavily defended as time passed, now it was
abandoned altogether. The possible threat of the trogs was nothing compared
to the definite threat of these swamp-stalkers. Borth pleaded with the
council to keep a token force near the battlefield. They refused, citing
the fact that not so much as a goblin imp had been seen within miles of
the guard post since it had been constructed.
Only a few craftworkers were chosen to go with the new forces, and
Borth was not among them. He had never managed to master even the rudiments
of earthcraft, though he had surpassed expectations in his use of firecraft.
He learned all his old master could teach him, and created a new dweomer
of his own. This final act was enough to grant him the privileges due a
Wizard, the youngest in the history of the village. He had taken advantage
of the free time this allowed him to pursue studies of his own.
Kessil decided to take a leisurely stroll down to the old guard post.
Borth had moved all that he need to live down there. He spent three days
at a time on guard, returning for two in the interim to complete his duties
in the village, wound closure, training of apprentices and so forth. This
ritual had been strictly adhered to for the five lunar cycles that had
passed since his brother had been slain in the fighting with the snake-beasts.
One had bitten Nellis and its poison acted too quickly to be stopped. He
was honored as a hero to the village, and buried with the proper ceremony.
The tide had turned a few weeks ago and these abominations were driven so far
into the Wild Marshes that no sign of them had been detected for over a week.
The Vagha were still on full alert with continuous patrols of the border.
Kessil came to bring the latest word to Borth.
The androsphynx found him in one of the old barracks staring out of the
window. Kessil paused at the door and knocked. Borth turned and his face
brightened at the sight of his friend. "Come in Kessil, there is something
I want to show you. Before that, give me the news I see waiting behind your eyes."
"Warwing brings me tidings from the front. He has continually been flying
reconnaissance over the marshes and has seen no sign of any activity for the
better part of the week. The Warlords believe that the worst is over for now,
and the Yuan-ti may not be in a position to strike back for months or years, if ever."
"That is good news, indeed." Borth paused a moment to consider the situation.
He shrugged and spoke again. "Now, look at this if you please. Have you ever seen
anything like it?" Borth held out his hand. A foot long leach hung between his fingers.
Kessil examined the thing, sniffing at it carefully. "I have never seen or
smelled the like, but I am not very worldly in such things."
"It would not matter, for it is not of this world."
"What do you mean?"
"After intense study I have recreated the gateway I once made. I have
created a Path, not from here to there on Esfah, but from Esfah to the Netherworld!"
"Surely, you are mistaken. Nothing exists beyond Esfah."
"You see the proof with your own eyes. How can you doubt it? I have opened
a small gate here, in this room. After this thing came through I closed the
gateway again. This leech tried to attach itself to my head so I threw it to
the ground. I then felt a strange tugging in my mind. This thing was attacking
me mentally so I charred it to death with a burning hand."
Kessil sniffed at the worm again. "It has the touch of the Corrupter upon it.
There is also a scent I cannot place."
Borth nodded. "I expect you cannot. It is the mark of the world beyond. I
have named it Ether meaning 'not-of-this-land'. It is the most appropriate
description I have of it."
Kessil was speechless at this. If what Borth proposed was true, the risk
he was taking was enormous, opening passages to other worlds with no one to
help him monitor. As if reading Kessil's thoughts, Borth spoke, "Who could I
get to help me? You have been my only friend since Nellis' death, and no other
dares come down here where crazy Borth bides his time."
It seemed as if an eternity passed while they stood there in silence.
Finally Borth spoke again. "I know they are still there, waiting for their
chance to come through again. I also know what I have to do. I am taking
the fight to them."
"You are not actually going in there, are you?"
"I have to. I don't belong here."
"What do you mean you don't belong? Your mother and father are still..."
Kessil started.
"Not really my mother and father." Borth finished his sentence. "They
found me when I was a baby. I have no idea who my real parents are."
"You've mastered the crafts..."
"Only firecraft. I never have been able to work earthcraft at all.
I'm convinced that I am not a Vagha. I don't even think that I come from this
world."
"Now you are talking nonsense. Of course you are a Vagha."
Borth shook his head. "Look at the facts. I was born with no beard and
this pathetic covering is the closest I have ever come to having one. My
eyes are a deep violet color..."
"Simple changes that could have happened to any dwarf."
"I've never heard of another case like this before, and neither has anyone
else in the village, I have asked everyone. In addition, I cannot work earthcraft
but seem to be gifted in another craft, yet unknown on Esfah."
"That happened once, years ago. It was a fluke."
Again Borth shook his head. "You are forgetting the leach I showed you.
It came through another portal that I opened, intentionally this time. I can
control the power in that other place, but I can only tap into it when I am
near a nexus point like this one, or the one in the fissure where my father
found me so many years ago."
Kessil looked surprised at this. Borth noticed and explained, "I once
asked my father to show me where I was found. I scanned the area for residues
of the crafts. Only a very weak purple signature showed. I returned later and
drew enough power from that nexus to enchant this axe." He held up a small
battle axe in the morning sunlight.
Kessil noted, "It looks common enough to me."
"A common axe cannot do this." The non-dwarf brought the axe down firmly
on the stone table top, cleaving it in half. The sphynx was astonished. He
examined the cut and found it to be as smooth as the finest masonry work.
"An axe that cleaves stone as if it were paper," Kessil muttered to himself.
"One other thing. I have combined these two crafts to create a new weapon,
one never seen before on Esfah." With that Borth produced a shimmering sphere
from his pouch, no more than an inch across. He exited the guardhouse, passed
through the iron gate and entered the old battlefield. He rolled the sphere
gently between his thumb and forefinger, then threw it a long way across the
field. When the sphere hit the ground it exploded with a report that echoed
throughout the valley. The fireball it created formed a three foot deep crater
in the ground. "I can tell by the look on your face, Kessil, that you finally
realize I am right."
"After that, I would be a fool to disagree with you. If you are sure that
this is what you must do, then I will accompany you, of course."
"Your offer is generous and appreciated, but you are your own soul, and
have your own way to find in this world. I am convinced that I do not belong
in this world. I feel certain that I am not a Vagha. I know that I come from
the land beyond, the land of Ether. From now on I will call myself the
'one-who-does-not-belong', the Gnome.
"My road now leads to that other land, to find more of my kindred. Stay
here and live a long happy life, my friend." Borth clapped Kessil on the
shoulder. He paused a moment then turned away.
Borth returned to the guardhouse and donned his pack, then slung the axe
on his belt. He returned to Kessil's side and embraced him strongly. "I shall
miss you dearly."
With that Borth turned and strode through the iron gate for the last time.
He walked swiftly onto the battlefield, stopping a few feet short of the site
where the original portal opened. He the incantation aloud. Suddenly the portal
was open. He peered through for a moment, took a step back and unhooked his axe.
A figure stepped through the gate, a hideous mockery of a man with pale mauve
skin, wide jet black eyes and a set of tentacles where a mouth should have been.
It advanced toward Borth menacingly. Kessil shot through the gate and bounded
across the grass, but Borth simply swung his axe once in a wide arc and beheaded
the creature. He pushed the body backward through the gateway, then kicked the
head in after. He turned to Kessil.
"Take care of my mother and father for me."
"I promise I will."
Borth stepped through the gate and took one look back before it closed behind
him forever. In that one moment Kessil glimpsed another world, sad and foreboding
compared to the light and happiness of Esfah. The land was dimly lit by the
burgundy sun that hung in the sky. As the portal collapsed Borth turned to face
his friend one last time. A contented smile spread across his face as he waved
farewell.
Kessil swore that he looked more at peace than ever before in his life.