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It’s a whole village.
Houses made of stone walls with no roofs line the perimeter of the huge cavern, carefully made and stacked together tightly with no mortar, but they seem solid. Cobblestone streets have been patterned together on the floor, which is clean of dirt and debris, all leading to the center of the cavern where a huge hot spring lays, steaming on the floor. Then there are the golems. There are dozens of them. Far more than I would have expected there to be. An entire mining company’s worth. They look at us curiously as we enter and freeze when they notice Wodred and me. There’s an audible distressed sound, and then one of the golems steps forward, their movements looking angry.
“Granite!” the golem grinds out. “What have you done? How could you bring strangers here?”
“They are here to slay the demon corrupting the mountain,” Granite says evenly. “I am helping them because it helps us. You know the stones are feeling the effect of the demon’s evil.”
The new golem stops at that, cocking his head and regarding Wodred and me.
“They can slay the demon?” the golem asks.
“Yes. And I have extracted their promise that they will not reveal our existence to anyone. You worry too much, Dacite.”
“You do not worry enough,” shoots back Dacite. “As if a flesh creature has never lied before.”
“I am an orc who gave my Oath,” Wodred suddenly says, breaking into the conversation. “That is a promise that can only be released by my death. We will not speak of you or your people to anyone outside this mountain.”
“And her?” Dacite sneers. “She is no orc. Her promise means nothing.”
“Lady Melelea is the epitome of goodness,” Wodred says solemnly. “Her word is even stronger than mine.”
“He speaks true. The trolless stopped the orc from destroying us when we first met,” Shale says, stepping forward next to Granite. “And surely you can feel the aura of her magic, as any golem can, Dacite. It is pure and good. They will not betray us.”
The other golems in the cavern have come closer as the argument has carried on, looking at Wodred and me with a mix of fascination and horror. Like they have never seen a flesh-and-blood person before. Which is strange. If they were left here by the mining company, would they not have at least seen humans before? None of this makes sense.
“Well, get them out of here as soon as possible, then,” spits out Dacite. “This is our sanctuary. We do not need it to be sullied by flesh creatures.”
Then the golem turns and stomps away. Many of the other golems go to follow him, leaving us alone with Granite, Basalt, and Shale.
Granite grumbles, a golem version of a sigh, I would think. “I’m sorry about him.” the golem says to us. “He is the oldest of us all and remembers most what it was like to work for the humans. He is, perhaps, the angriest of us.”
“It’s all right,” I say. “He is feeling protective of his home from outsiders. That is a feeling anyone can understand.”
Granite regards me with an unreadable expression, then nods. “I’ll take you to my home while we wait for the scouts to return so that we can reunite you with your comrades. It’s probably best to keep you out of sight, since you make the others nervous.”
“If that’s what you think is best,” I reply diplomatically.
Granite nods again and turns to Basalt and Shale. “Go meet up with the scouts and find out where the two on the surface are, so we know which exit to take.”
The two other golems silently walk off, leaving us with Granite. At that moment, my stomach growls loudly, to my embarrassment and distress. I am out of trail rations. Most of the food was on Wodred’s warbeast, and I have finished what was in my belt pouch earlier in the tunnels. I don’t know how I will eat to keep up my strength. Wodred might still have some trail rations, but he needs those for himself.
Granite cocks his head at the sound of my belly. “I have not heard that sound in many years. You need fuel?”
“Yes,” I admit. “But I do not think you would have fuel for a creature like me.”
“That is where you are wrong,” the golem says, surprising me. “There are mushrooms that grow by the hot spring pools that are safe for flesh creatures to eat. Come to my home and I will take care of you.” He glances at Wodred, as if realizing he’s still here. “Both of you.”
✽✽✽
WE ENTER A house at the far end of the cavern and enter through a flap of old, worn cloth over the doorframe. I am hit by the heat when we enter and see that there is a small hot spring in the center of the room, an offshoot of the big pool outside. It steams, but there are no bubbles or hissing, so I think it is not an unsafe temperature. The interior walls are covered in star lichen, the glow lighting the cozy space.
It’s not comfortable in the normal sense. There is no bed or resting place, just two chairs carved from stone and a table, along with the hot spring. I suppose that is logical, as golems would not have any need for sleep. Along the rim of the hot spring, I see the mushrooms that Granite spoke of, and my stomach rumbles again. I have never seen mushrooms like this before, even with all my knowledge of growing things, but they look tempting to my hunger.
“You may make yourselves comfortable,” the golem says, gesturing to the two chairs. “Fuel. Rest. Bathe. The hot springs have healing properties for flesh creatures. But do not leave this dwelling. I must go keep my people calm. I will come back for you when we have the scouts’ reports.”
With that, the golem leaves the cottage, leaving Wodred and me alone. Without much preamble, I kneel down next to the hot spring and pick a mushroom. It is large, about the size of my palm, and I go to take a bite when Wodred is suddenly there next to me, his hand blocking me.
“Let me taste it first,” he says, his voice as stern as I have ever heard it.
