The Treasure of the Dwarven City

The Abandoned City

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Roger sighted carefully along his bow and released. The string twanged and slapped against the leather guard on Roger's wrist. The arrow flew true and hit the buck square on back on his body. It wasn't a fatal wound but the buck would eventually die from loss of blood. Roger felt a twinge of sadness at the death of such a powerful creature. But still, Roger needed the buck to sell and earn a bit of money for his family.

With blood already puring out, the magnificent buck panicked and ran. It tore through the forest and was out of Rogers sight in less then five seconds. It ran up to ten times faster than Roger could but Roger knew it would eventually lie down and die. He followed the blood trail the deer left through the forest.  It was on the path and brushed on leaves. The blood gleamed brightly in the sunlight.

Roger was surrounded by trees and other ground plants. There were bushes, ferns, and some flowers. The forest was a great variety of colors due to the vast quantity of plants. Roger knew that it was true when his father once told him the forest's importance.

"The forest holds the most life in the world. It is the home for up to hundreds of living animals and plants. That is why the forest is so special. The wood provides our homes and fire and the animals that dwell within our food and clothe. Always respect the forest, boy, and it will never let you down. It will take you under its care and give you a privileged life."

He was a sixteen-year-old boy, and his family were blacksmiths as far as he could remember. His family had a steadily growing amount of customers, and were slowly rising in terms of reputation. They always got by, with the occasional repair or new hammer, until the king went to war with Britain. He increased the taxes by almost half to fund new ships for new weapons and food.

All across the land many families turned broke and even the wealthy had to sell some furniture to pay. Roger's family was no exception, though they did fare okay, thanks to the forest. His family had to give up almost half of their current their life savings just for the first new set of taxes. Roger had heard of horrible tales from trades about families who couldn't pay the tax.

They were separated and people were sent to the dock, field, or mine. They had terrible food and working conditions. He didn't know how his family could get past the second round tax, so he worked anywhere he could, gathering the odd coin. Roger figured he could sell the deer, hide, etc.. for almost $20. It would help a lot, as would any amount of money to him.

By now, Roger thought that the deer would have slowed down a lot, he assumed. And his prediction was right because the blood trail grew thicker, which meant the deer had slowed and the more blood flowed onto less ground. Roger looked ahead, tracking the trail. It got even thicker, but then it suddenly passed disappeared around a green bush, and appeared on the other side. It didn't go on to the bush or on the ground around it. No flowers or plants grew there to, Roger noticed.

It was an ordinary bush, with red berries hanging off the sides. Roger knelt to examine it, trying to see why there was no blood. He attempted to push aside the branches, but his hand just passed through. "What the heck!" exclaimed Roger, his voice startling loud in the quiet night. Birds took off from trees, voicing their protest.

He swiped the bush again, with the same results. Roger didn't believe in magic and fairy tales, but he couldn't think of any other way to explain this oddity of nature. There was just no way to explain it.The deer must have know, and jumped over it, thought Roger. In fact, every animal in the forrest probably knew of this and avoided it. He knelt and leaned forward, testing how far the gap was when he fell through the bush.

He found that it spanned about three feet around the bush on all sides. He found a branch and lay it across to mark the spot. Then he got up, meaning to chase the deer and return later. But as he got up he tripped on a pine cone. He fell forward, into and through the bush.

Roger fell into blackness, and his breath was knocked out of him with a big whoosh. Roger lay winded on a stone floor for several moments. He fell on his side, and his leg and arm were aching. It wasn't severe, but still painful Roger though. He saw torches along the wall in the distance, and realized he was in some sort of tunnel. He explored behind him, to see if he could go up again, and saw some crude, but manageable, hand holes cut out in the wall.

At least I can come back up, he thought relieved. Curious, he began walking slowly ahead, trying to discern anything about the tunnel, but saw nothing different from the rest. Roger realized there was a gradual downward slant, and tried to see any end. The tunnel had a slight dust covering it that signaled the age.

Also, as much as Roger could look he didn't spot a single footprint. He couldn't see one, so his curiosity set in and he wanted to know what was at the end. The tunnel was strange and seemingly inhuman. It was an almost perfect hemi-sphere at the top. There were torches burning at the sides, and didn't seem to run out. Roger was examining the sides so much that he didn't notice a pair of doors appear in front of him.

Roger almost crashed into it, his forehead barely stopping before the doors. Roger looked up hurriedly, and saw huge wooden doors in front of him.They were large and rectangular. Above, the ceiling came down to block out the top. They had a golden handle intricately carved. There was gold inlay swirling on the door and gems studded into it. Above the doors was a sign made of ebony wood.

It had words carved into it. The words flowed and swirled across the wood. There was a slight layer of dust and Roger swept it away with his hand. By the sides were small, white spiderwebs that glistened with dew. The sign had an elegant touch and held words of importance. Roger read the sign and wondered what it meant.

                                                                      Notice to Travelers

                                Those who happen to stumble across this should read this for their                           

                                safety. Entering is highly cautioned against and the intruder will be           

                                dealt with accordingly. So those who want to avoid trouble should                        

                                head back. - The inhabitants of the city

Roger reread the sign. It seemed ominous and held an important waring. He debated whether to enter or head back. Eventually, his curiosity, once again, took control of him and he opened the doors. They opened with a big whoosh and rush of air. Roger took a deep breath and looked into the city. What he saw would change his opinion on fairy tales forever.