Legends from The Warlock's Chair - Book One - Ravengaard

Chapter Twenty-four - Hammerforge

THE CAVERN WAS ENORMOUS, the largest they had yet entered. Danielle, George and what remained of the party from Whytewytch Wood, descended from the collapsed cave high above. Stone steps, carved into the sheer rock face led them down to the cave floor. Now they stood on a beach of white sand which sparkled in the unusual light that filtered in from one end of the cavern. Before them, stretching as far as they could see was a lake. The inky black surface, flowed sluggishly towards the light, reflecting the great pillars of stone that rose from beneath the surface and disappeared up into the gloom overhead. Several falls cascading from openings around the walls gave the lake a constant supply of water.

'That is a great deal of water, where is it all coming from?' queried Eldon.

'More magic,' voiced Altard. 'This must be the Black Lake spoken of in the Elven scriptures, In Annwn Deep 'neath the falls of the Black Lake you will find Hammerforge, the hidden City of the Corachod, or something along those lines, it was written not long after the Dwarves went into exile.'

'Is that all that was written?' inquired Meriol.

'That Princess was the last line written with reference to the Dwarf Empire. A vague reference scribed by our forebears long ago,' the Spellcaster went on. 'Unsure exactly what was meant, many have searched for this lake, but to no avail, there were no black lakes. But the writings on the maze, the mining of these tunnels, and now this,' he pointed to the lake before them. 'The city must be here.' 

'Let's get looking then,' George insisted. 'Which way should we go?'

'Yes,' Danielle urged. 'The sooner we find the Dwarves, the sooner we can get back and find Jessica.'

Captain Thrax, who had been studying their surroundings, nodded. 'I think we should make haste towards that mysterious radiance, if they are down here they will need power for heat and light. Yonder looks  our best option.'   

'I agree with the Captain,' Meriol urged. 'Has anyone any objections.'

There were none, so they set off along the beach towards the puzzling light. They walked in silence, the only sound came from the splashing of the waterfalls and a distant muffled roar from somewhere up ahead of them.

Danielle was deep in thought; her mind raced with troubled thoughts. What if they could not find her sister; how would they explain this to their parents. What could they say, no one would believe them, even if they told the truth? She should not think like that. Eldon had said all would be okay. She was with Holt after all, and although the Gnome could be awkward and obnoxious, if he couldn't get Jessica out of a scrape, then no one could.

'It will be alright, won't it?' she asked George as if to reassure herself.

'Don't worry we will find Jess and the Dwarves, get what we came for, and find our way home soon, I'm sure,' George said encouragingly. 

'I hope so,' Danielle whispered anxiously.

From out in the lake came a loud splash as something rose to the surface. They caught a glimpse of a large glistening fin as the unseen creature, or whatever it was, dived back into the depths. 

As they walked, the distant roar grew louder. They felt a gentle warmth on their faces from the strange light, which grew stronger as they moved along the beach, casting long shadows behind them. 

'If I did not know better, I would say that was sunlight,' remarked Meriol. 'Altard, what could be causing it?' she asked the Elven Spellcaster.

'I am not sure Princess; it could be a natural occurrence, but most probably it is magical. The Dwarves did have powerful magicians at the time of their disappearance.'