Katriel nodded, frowning. “I know, my lady. I am merely . . . hesitant to mention it.” Satisfied with the fire, she took the carcasses from Maric and began skewering them on a pair of branches. “Have you heard of the Deep Roads?”
Loghain nodded slowly. “The underground roads that once belonged to the dwarven kingdoms. But they no longer exist.”
“Oh, they exist. The dwarves closed off the Deep Roads when they fell to the darkspawn long ago. The entrance into the Deep Roads from Orzammar is sealed, normally.” She looked at Loghain pointedly. “You can, however, enter them from the surface . . . if you know where to look.”
Maric blinked. “And you . . . know where to look?”
Katriel nodded. “I do, Your Highness. Or, rather, I believe I do.”
“And one of these . . . Deep Roads goes to Gwaren?”
“Believe it or not, Your Highness, Gwaren was built on top of a dwarven outpost. The humans came later, to use the port that the dwarves had built and abandoned. They even took the outpost’s name, though they doubtless no longer remember it.”
“And just how do you remember it?” Rowan asked. “How do you know this?”
Katriel’s smile was enigmatic. “I know many things, my lady. History is full of lessons to be learned if one cares to listen.”
Loghain glanced at Rowan, and she saw he shared her suspicions. Maric, however, was more concerned about the idea Katriel proposed. “But aren’t these Deep Roads full of darkspawn?” he asked. “I mean, wasn’t that the idea behind closing them off?”
The elf nodded slowly. “No one knows how many darkspawn are below now. It has been centuries since they invaded the surface lands and were defeated. The Deep Roads could be teeming with them . . . or empty.”
“But . . . we could use the Deep Roads? To travel? Theoretically?”
“Theoretically,” she agreed. “If they are clear, Your Highness, we could travel very swiftly indeed.”
“Or be slain and eaten as soon as we enter,” Rowan snapped.
“Or the path could be blocked.” Katriel nodded. “Hence my hesitation.”
The thoughts were whirling in Maric’s head; Rowan could see them. Her heart sank as she saw his hopes rise. “If we go through the Brecilian Forest, it’s guaranteed to take a long time,” he said to Loghain, his voice excited.
Loghain seemed dubious. “Several weeks, perhaps, though I can find the way.”
“At least with these Deep Roads we have a chance.” Maric grinned.
“Maric!” Rowan chided him. “Do you even know anything about the darkspawn? They are horrible, tainted creatures! An unthinkable fate could await us down there, assuming that Katriel even knows where the entrance is.”
“We passed it, my lady,” Katriel said. “A great stone column in the hills. I saw it from afar. It is the reason I thought of this at all.” She looked at Maric with concern. “Though . . . there is a seal. I am not sure we could even open it, Your Highness, I would have to see it to be certain.”
Maric looked at Loghain. “What do you think?”
“I think it is a lot to rest on this story.” He arched a brow at Katriel. “Are you certain? These Deep Roads go straight to Gwaren? And we would be able to navigate down there?”
“I remember the tale,” she replied cautiously. “But . . .”
“Then we go,” Maric said firmly. “Let us find this seal. If we cannot open it, or we see any hint of creatures below, then we go through the forest instead.” He paused as he realized what he was saying, but then nodded again, more certain. “I say we take the risk.”
“Or die trying,” Loghain said grimly.
“Or die trying,” Maric agreed.
Rowan looked at them both incredulously. Finally, she sighed in exasperation. “Or die trying,” she said without much enthusiasm. Men were such fools.
“I will do my best to get you back to your people,” Katriel swore, looking at Maric as she did so. “I promise you that, Your Highness.”
He rolled his eyes mockingly. “You keep calling me that.”
“That is what you are.”
“You helped save my life and now you’re going to lead us into the Deep Roads, and you want to stand on ceremony?” He chuckled lightly. “Besides, you’re the only one doing it, now. It’s weird.”
She shook her head, bewildered. “You are a very strange man.”
“Well, don’t you start slapping me, too. I’ve had enough of that for today.”
And with that, their decision was set. Rowan and Loghain shared another quiet glance as Katriel and Maric continued their banter. She hoped halfheartedly that the elf wouldn’t be able to find the seal, or would not be able to open it, despite the supposed speed it might offer them in reaching Gwaren. Somehow she suspected that Katriel’s information would prove to be good.
Katriel’s information was always good, evidently.
Thunder finally clamored off in the distance. It appeared their camp was about to get a great deal colder.
13
It took most of the next day to backtrack to the column Katriel had mentioned, and they found what she called the seal there. It was open. The four of them stood in the rain, staring at what would have easily been mistaken for a cave opening in the rocky hillside from a distance, and yet up close it contained the remains of what had once been an impressive pair of octagonal steel doors.
They were decorated with geometric patterns; thick, solid grooves carved into the steel that might once have formed words or pictures. Now they were too covered in brown lichen and thick piles of rust to be decipherable as anything. One of the doors hung off its great hinges, the elements literally eating away at it. The way inside was clear save for a mound of rocks and dirt at the entrance, looking as if the debris had been spewed from the great orifice.
It wasn’t until they got closer, stepping carefully among the wet and uneven rocks, that they realized the mound was mostly made of bones. Old bones, encrusted in earth and mud and mostly buried.
“Hard to say what they were,” Maric observed, picking among the bone pieces with faint disgust. “Might be human.”
“More important, they’re not new,” Loghain pointed out. “That’s a good sign.”
Katriel poked her head warily into the cave. “I agree. If any creature other than bats has used this cave recently, they haven’t left a trace. All I see is guano.”
“Charming.” Rowan rolled her eyes.
Katriel glanced at Rowan. “There are many legends of travelers going missing in these hills. We should still be careful, as such legends often have some truth in them.”
“Duly noted,” Loghain commented, ushering everyone inside.
They set up camp just inside the cave opening, the four of them going to work on making as many torches as they could by tearing up strips of the tent fabric. Katriel mentioned that she had no idea how long they would be down there. There would be no hunting for food, she cautioned, and no way to know if there was fresh water.
Loghain had them fill up as many bottles and flasks as they could. He then took stock of their meager food supplies, laying out dried strips of meat on the rock as he listened to the rhythm of rain pounding on the rocks outside. Rowan sat beside him, wearing her full set of gleaming armor again.