Alex in Haremland 2 Chapter 5

I could feel Una and Mae tensing beside me, and in my peripheral vision I saw their hands inched toward the weapons strapped to their waist, but I held up a hand to forestall their attack. I was the Dreamer, and it wouldn’t do any good to show weakness, so I pushed myself to my feet.

“Let me handle this,” I requested, and I flashed the two ladies a confident smile as I pressed a probing finger against my chest.

My ribs were sore where I’d been hit, but no permanent damage was made, and half the bruises were likely from all the falling I’d done recently. I took a careful breath to fill my burning lungs, and then I glared at the mole-man who’d struck me, but it was difficult to tell if he saw anything through the glassy sheen covering his eyes.

At least, I assumed it was a male since the hair on his small, round head was short cropped, and fuzz covered the chin beneath a soft pink snout. The gray tunic created vague shadows, but the broadness of the mole-person’s shoulders strained the fabric.

“We aren’t here to hurt you,” I said as I lifted my hands to show they were empty.

“Why should we believe you?” the mole-man grunted, but I saw his eyes flick to his companions as if to seek their guidance, and my heart leapt to hear him speak the common tongue.

I wouldn’t need a translator, and that in itself was a gift.

“Because I have no reason to lie to you,” I said in a calm voice.

I cast a subtle glance around at the mole-people who surrounded us, and I counted at least fifteen with my peripheral vision. I could have taken them all on by myself if I had a strength potion, but without the aide of a magical elixir, I was just a regular human from Earth. I itched to have my sword in hand, but I held myself frozen in place while I analyzed our captors.

One mole-man had long gray hair pulled back at the nape of his neck, and the tendrils were held in place by a thick leather strap. He shook his head as he leaned on his spear like a cane, and the simple gesture spoke volumes. There was an air of authority around him, and the deference the others showed placed him as their leader.

The observation inspired me to attempt a peaceful negotiation with the elder mole-man, but without potions, I didn’t have a lot of other options. Still, the gray-haired one didn’t seem to be in a hurry to kill us, and I wanted to grasp onto that feeling and spread it to the rest of the spear-wielding mole-people.

“We are innocent of any crimes,” I said directly to the older mole-man, but this seemed to infuriate the one who’d jabbed me in the ribs with the butt of his spear.

“They stole our treasure,” the mole-man who’d hit me argued, and he stamped the butt of his spear onto the tunnel floor to emphasize his words. “Kill them!”

“No!” I reached for my sword, but I immediately had six spear points aimed at my throat, so I froze with my hand halfway to my waist. “My name is Alex, and we are down here by accident. We didn’t take your treasure, whatever it is. All I’ve seen were bugs.”

“I told you they laid eyes upon our treasure!” the mole-man who’d hit me exclaimed.

“Kill them! Kill them!” the others shouted as they smacked the ends of their spears into the dirt floor of the tunnel, but the older mole-man lifted one of his hands, and the cries died down.

The gray-haired elder narrowed his glassy eyes, and his soft pink snout wiggled as he sniffed the air. I wondered what he could smell, but I didn’t know much about moles, so all I could do was guess.

Could they smell fear?

“We will not bloody the sacred storage levels for poor reasons,” he growled, and the other mole-people stepped back a half pace. “We must first confirm Uwu’s accusations.”

“I saw them myself!” the mole-man calling for our death shouted. “You would take the word of surface dwellers over that of your own grandson?”

“The food stores could become contaminated if their blood pools across the floor,” a mole-person behind me interjected, but I didn’t dare turn my back on the warrior who’d jabbed me. “But that is fixed simply by taking them to a different level.”

“Iam has a point,” the one called Uwu said, and I could tell by the way the others shifted their feet that they were ready to jump at the task the instant the command was given.

Fortunately, the gray-haired one said nothing, so the warriors remained frozen in place.

What I wouldn’t give to have warriors this trained and courageous to fill the ranks of my army. The women of New Haven were stronger than I expected, and I’d inspired bravery in them more than once, but these spear-wielding mole-people put my forces to shame.

Still, I was the Dreamer, and I would fight my way back to the others and back to the surface if I had to, but I needed to wait for an opening to take advantage of, so I decided to stick with the peaceful route versus all out war.

“It was never our intention to sully sacred ground or to contaminate food supplies,” I argued in a voice far calmer than I truly felt inside, and I directed my words to the gray-haired mole-man. “We were just looking for a way out.”

“Who do you serve?” the old mole-man asked as his glassy eyes narrowed.

I could feel the collective held breath of the warriors as they awaited my answer, but I wasn’t certain which one to give. If they were minions of the Dark King, then it would be wise to keep as much information to ourselves as possible, but there was no denying we were temporarily at their mercy.

“Who do you think?” I countered. “How do I know you won’t kill me the instant I tell you?”

The older man paused at this, and the tension in the air built to almost intolerable levels, but I said nothing as I waited for his response. The warriors stiffened as the gray-haired mole-man and I stared at each other, but no one made a move while the intensity between us rose.

“Search them for treasures,” the old one said at long last, and the two women behind me gasped as the mole-people warriors rushed to do his bidding.

“Wait,” I argued.

“No, surface dweller.” The old mole-man barely raised his voice, but even his own warriors flinched at his tone. “I shall know the truth of your words, or I will not believe anything else you have to say.”

“It’s quite alright, Dreamer,” Mae chirped as she held her arms out to either side. “You were the one insistent upon not disturbing our findings, you spoke true, so we have nothing to fear.”

“Dreamer?” The older mole-man’s voice cracked with emotion, and the warriors patting us down froze in place to stare at me in awe.

“Yes! Alex is the Dreamer!” Una exclaimed, and her violet eyes were bright with triumph. “He is here to save All-the-land! You minions of darkness will never win against the might of the Dreamer!”

Shit.

If the mole-people were working for the Dark King, then our lives were definitely in danger, but if they were part of the rebellion, then we would probably be treated as heroes.

It all came down to their reaction.

I held my breath as my eyes remained locked on the old mole-man’s face, but his narrowed gaze met mine with shrewd consideration. The moment seemed to stretch on forever, and neither one of us dared to breathe, but then the older man turned to his companions and lifted his spear.

“This could be the moment we’ve been waiting for… We take them before Aman!” the leader of the warrior group shouted, and the rest cheered in response.

Even with the small number of warriors standing around us, the sound was deafening, and the tunnel floor shook with the force of their stamping spears, but the cacophony gave me a moment of distraction to slip my hands into Mae and Una’s and give them each a reassuring squeeze. We exchanged a quick smile, and I drew comfort from their presence. I was glad I wasn’t facing whoever this Aman person was on my own, but I still worried about the rest of our companions left alone on the upper level.

It would just have to be something I discussed with the highest authority I was brought before, but I mentally prepared myself to fight our way out all the same.

I still wasn’t entirely convinced they were part of the rebellion since neither Mae nor Una were familiar with them, but at least the older one hadn’t sentenced us to death on the spot. For all I knew, the Aman person was an executioner, and we were walking our last steps, but I refused to give in to despair.

I was the Dreamer, and nothing could stop me from saving All-the-land from darkness.

Then the gray-haired mole-man shuffled down the tunnel, and we were herded along in his wake by the butt end of the mole-warriors’ spears. We walked down the way we’d ventured in, and a few moments later, we passed by the second cave-in location. The old guy led us down into a lower level, and I cast one last longing look upward before I followed him into the depths. It wasn’t until we passed by a torch and several of the warriors slung packs off their shoulders that I noticed the gray lumps the mole-men pulled unlit torches from.

I cast a more observant eye over our would-be captors, but I didn’t see any other weapons besides their spears. All the mole-people had the same huge, scoop shaped hands and impossibly strong nails, so at least now we knew who’d built the tunnels and left the claw marks everywhere.

One mystery solved.

The role and power of the Aman person we were being brought before was the next puzzle I wanted to figure out, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t learn as much as possible about these warriors along the way.

“What is this treasure you’re so worried about, anyway?” I asked the leader in a calm voice. “Is it really those bugs I mentioned?”

The gray-haired mole-man cast me an annoyed look over his shoulder, but then he sighed and slowed his pace to match mine. Mae and Una fell into formation a step behind us, and I flashed them a grateful smile over my shoulder before turning my gaze back to the warriors’ leader.

“Our food is our biggest treasure,” the older mole-man explained. “We guard it fiercely should others seek it for themselves. Don’t think I still won’t have the men search you the instant Aman commands it, but if you are the Dreamer, you shouldn’t be touched without his word.”

“The bugs?” Una wrinkled her nose. “That’s an odd thing to treasure.”

“And how do you feel about your food?” the old mole-man countered.

“I enjoy eating it?” Una’s voice showed her confusion, but the mole-warrior merely chuckled and shook his head knowingly.

“So, Aman is your leader?” I pressed, and the gray-haired mole-man inclined his head to the affirmative, so I reached out my hand to shake his. “I’m Alex. What’s your name?”

“Tu,” the older mole-man answered as he considered my hand through narrowed eyes.

“It’s to say ‘nice to meet you,’” I explained in a patient tone, but I couldn’t help the smile that twitched the corners of my lips.

Tu took my hand in a reluctant manner, but the pressure of his fist was warm and strong. I took his measure through his grip, and then I nodded as we released the hold.

“Now, you can say you met the Dreamer before even Aman,” I pointed out, and I flashed the older man a mischievous smile.

“If you are who you say you are,” Tu said, but I thought I could see amusement glinting in his dark eyes.

I felt like I’d made a breakthrough, and I resisted the urge to do a victory dance, but I settled for a satisfied smile instead. The light around us flickered with the uneven waddling gait of the mole-people holding the torches, and the shadows hid my smirk from the observant, if glassy, eyes of the mole-warriors.

“How long until we reach this Aman?” I asked as I cast a glance around at the tunnel surrounding us.

The claw marks looked fresher here, and the air was cooler. Torches lined the walls at regular intervals, and every time we went down a level, the lights grew more numerous.

“Aman resides deep within the bowels of the dirt,” Tu said, and his face lit up with pride. “It will take some time to reach the lowest level, but we will ride mounts for the most strenuous stretch of the journey.”

“What about my people left in the uppermost tunnel?” I couldn’t help the worried frown that creased my brow.

“We must ask Aman.” Tu shook his head, but I’d predicted he would say something of the sort, so it didn’t come as a shock.

“Very well,” I sighed.

The walls were even more well maintained in this section, but before I could analyze the structure any closer, we rounded a bend, and the entire tunnel changed. The floors were covered in rough hewn stones, and the walls were carved adobe bricks. The torches were replaced by lanterns, and I even spotted a few support beams preventing collapse.

A group of mole-people scurried down the tunnel ahead of us, but before I could even get a good look at them, they disappeared through an archway to the right.

“Alex, look!” Una gasped as she pointed in the direction of the new group of mole-people. “They’re so cute!”

Tu and his warriors acted like they saw nothing, and they passed by the archway without giving it a second glance, so I did the same. There was no telling how long it would take us to reach the lowest level, and the maze-like quality of the corridors had my head reeling.

I trusted Una’s nose and night vision, Mae’s experience with a sword and bravery, and in my own skills, however recently acquired though they were. We would be able to find our way back to our friends, but I knew it would be much easier if we allied ourselves with the mole-people so we could use them as guides back to the surface.

“Who were those other people?” I asked after we’d turned another corner. “They seemed to be scared of you.”

“We are Aman’s Warriors,” Tu explained. “Our reputation precedes us.”

“So, they’re just normal mole-people?” I questioned.

“Aman’s people,” Tu confirmed with a nod.

“You mentioned mounts.” Mae cleared her throat, and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “How do steads survive down here?”

“Our steads are born beneath the dirt,” Tu explained. “They are both livestock and mounts. The strongest and fastest are trained while the fattest and juiciest are harvested.”

“How do your mounts feel about these options?” I arched one eyebrow.

“They are brainless guileless beasts of burden.” Tu narrowed his eyes at me like this should be well known, even above the surface. “They do not feel or think the way we do.”

“That doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings at all,” Una pointed out.

“Whatever your culture deems appropriate will not be insulted by us,” I said, and I flashed the cat-girl a warning look. “We are your guests, and it would be an honor to ride your mounts.”

“You do not have much choice if you wish to see Aman this day,” Tu said. “The lowest levels are two days’ walk, but a quarter of that by worm-back.”

“Worm… back?” I shook my head in awe at the absurdity of the thought, but given the general absurdity of All-the-land, I expected it to be exactly what it sounded like.

Tu chuckled, but he didn’t elaborate, so I was left with my wild imaginings of moles riding around on worms while we continued deeper into the ground.

We went down another level, and the air cooled even more, but the pressure of the atmosphere intensified. I noticed the mole-warriors alter their breathing to adapt, and I tried to mimic their pattern, but it was shallower than I was accustomed to. Dizziness wrapped around my brain, and I inhaled deeply in an effort to send more oxygen to my head, but it took several moments for the feeling to pass.

By that time, we arrived at a large archway, and inside was a courtyard of sorts with alcoves lining a circular space. Mole-people scurried around in every direction, and odd sounds emitted from the shadows. Huge candelabras swung from wooden logs lining the ceiling, and a rich, earthy odor permeated the air.

I shot Tu a questioning glance, but he ignored me as he approached a mole-man standing in the center of the courtyard. The courtyard mole-man looked to be in his mid-fifties, but his eyes were less glassy as they swept over us and then widened in surprise.

“I need three,” Tu said without preamble, and the courtyard mole-man nodded.

“Right away, sir,” he replied before rushing toward one of the shadowy alcoves.

A few moments later, a swarm of mole-people led out three gigantic as fuck earthworms with leather straps wrapped around what I assumed were their heads. The beasts stood over my head, and the width of their body looked to be as big as the interior of the tunnels themselves. The eyeless worms wagged the top end of their body around like it was looking at us, but I couldn’t see anything to indicate eyes.

“Oh, Alex!” Una craned her head to peer up at the massive creatures. “They’re beautiful!”

“I imagine one would feed a village for a moon cycle,” Mae observed, and she pulled her pipe out of her coat pocket.

“They did say they ‘harvested’ some of them,” I said. “But these ones are bred for their size and speed.”

“This way,” Tu instructed as he gestured for us to follow him.

On the side of the worm’s massive body hung a rope ladder, which led to a platform with crude wooden rails on top of the beast’s back. The three of us climbed on top of the worm, but I couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and stroke the creature’s bumpy pink flesh. It shivered beneath my palm, but it was warm beneath my touch. Then the ladder shook in my grasp, so I quickly pulled my hand away and finished the climb to the top.

Mae and Una were right behind me, and their awed expressions as they gazed down at the gigantic earthworm mount made me chuckle. Tu and a couple of his warriors joined us a moment later, and then the gray-haired mole-man grabbed the long strands of rope used as reins.

I scanned over the courtyard to find the rest of Tu’s warriors climbing onto two other earthworm mounts, and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Uwu get on a different stead. The more distance between us and the mole-man calling for our death, the better.

Once everyone was standing on a worm’s back, Tu clicked his tongue to our worm, and the beast waggled its head.

Then the huge earthworm wiggled forward, and the platform swayed beneath our feet. We all grabbed onto the rails and held on tightly, and a moment later, we were out of the courtyard and heading back down the tunnel. One of the mounts with warriors took the lead, and the other took the rear while Tu moved his worm into the center position, but then we were off.

“Ya, ya!” Tu flicked the reins to urge the worm into a faster pace, and then we were zooming down the corridors at a breathtaking speed.

It was difficult to make out any details of the tunnels around us at the pace we were going, but I noticed the quality of the stone work continued to improve, and the stability of the ceilings grew remarkably better the deeper we went.

We encountered more and more mole-people, but these all jumped out of the way of the speedy worms, and they hid in tiny alcoves built into the walls before we passed by them.

“How many people live down here?” I asked Tu in a voice loud enough to be heard over the rumbling movements of the earthworm.

The gray-haired mole-man cast me a suspicious glance, and I could tell he was weighing whether to trust me with this information yet or not. Even here, though, the name of the Dreamer carried weight, and I considered it a good sign that the mole-people weren’t minions of the Dark King.

“Our numbers are less vast than they once were,” Tu finally said, but he didn’t elaborate, and I could sense a hint of pain in his voice, so I didn’t press the issue.

The people of Havenwood had a similar perspective when I’d first arrived, after all, but now they were a thriving, courageous society. The mole-people already showed their bravery, so I wondered what caused their population to dwindle.

“Are there nightmares down here?” I asked, and Tu inhaled sharply.

“Nightmares lurk in the depths of shadow,” the warrior-mole said simply.

The fact that the old man knew of them confirmed my theory, but it didn’t bring me any comfort.

Was there nowhere safe from the reach of the Dark King’s most foul minions?

I had a million more questions I wanted to ask, but with the vagueness of his last two responses, I had a feeling Tu wasn’t in the most forthcoming mood. It was obvious the older mole-man wanted to get his leader’s opinion before forming his own, so I summoned all my patience as I settled into the most comfortable position I could find.

“They sure are weird,” Una whispered as her purple gaze flicked to the mole-warriors standing on the platform with us.

“I thought the same thing about you when we first met,” I pointed out with an amused smirk. “Give them a chance. At least they’re not shouting for our death anymore.”

“We should keep a close eye on that Uwu character,” Mae suggested, and she exhaled a cloud of smoke. “I was pleased to see him climb aboard the lead mount.”

“Me, too,” I agreed.

“How long will it take us to arrive?” Una asked.

“The rest of the day, I think,” I said, but my brow creased with a frown. “I hope the others are okay.”

“They’ve been training for this,” Mae pointed out. “They’re ready, Dreamer.”

“You know you can call me Alex,” I chuckled.

“I know it well, but a name you can sell,” the Dodo-woman said as she puffed on her pipe. “The Dreamer is an idea, safe from thieving fingers. Immortal.”

“I’m just a normal man.” I shook my head. “But I’m not trying to change you.”

“Another reason why we trust you to lead the way, Dreamer,” Mae replied, and a sweet smile tugged on her lips.

After several moments of uneventful travel, I settled back and rested my eyes for a while. I couldn’t make myself fall asleep, but I forced myself to stare into the darkness on the back of my eyelids while I controlled my breathing the way Mae had taught me.

Anxiety over my meeting with Aman rose in my chest, but I pushed it away and returned to my meditative state. The wheels were in motion, and the best thing to do was to just ride the waves. Despite the circle of spears held to our throats, I trusted Tu to get us to Aman safely, and the older mole-man hadn’t given me reason to doubt him.

Yet.

I wasn’t an idiot, and I wasn’t about to drop my guard entirely, but a little faith never hurt.

Una curled up on my lap after a while, and her head against my chest was more comforting than having an army at my back. I had people I could trust with me on this wild adventure, and that made all the difference in the world. I cast a grateful smile in Mae’s direction, and she inclined her head, but then she turned her gaze back to the front of the worm.

The tunnel walls slid by us in a blur, but every once in a while, darkness flashed around us as we passed through an unlit section. It reminded me of raves back on Earth, and I could almost hear the techno music in my head. I wasn’t in the mood to party, though, so I contented myself with trying to keep track of how many levels we descended.

Seven layers of corridors fell behind us as we went lower and lower into the bowels of the dirt, but every so often I could see roots tracing lines across the tunnel walls. The stones buried in the dirt didn’t allow the vegetation to take hold, but the pale tendrils clung to the stony ridges and crevices anyway.

Damn, how deep were we digging underneath All-the-Land? Did this world have a core?

The deeper we went, the more numerous the side tunnels became, until the walls resembled a sponge more than a solid surface. We were going to fast for me to glance inside the spaces, but I imagined living quarters or barracks.

“I am growing weary of the wiggling worm,” Mae sighed after several more hours of uneventful travel.

“Rest your eyes for a while,” I suggested. “I’ll keep watch”

“You have no need to remain diligent,” Tu interjected without looking back at us. “There are no enemies this deep. My team and I make sure of that.”

“Are you guys the only warriors among the mole-people?” I asked.

Tu frowned, and I could tell he was trying to decide whether or not to answer me honestly, but after a long moment, he sighed.

“No,” the warrior said. “We are merely one troop of many. How many warriors do your people boast?”

“Not nearly enough,” I answered honestly, and this earned me a grunt of respect from the older mole-man.

I wasn’t the only one sizing up the other group, and I wondered what observations the mole-warrior had made about us. I was sure we seemed just as absurd as they did to us. I hadn’t believed my own eyes when I’d first met Una and Mae, but after a while, their strangeness seemed normal.

Tu’s people were vastly different from the animal-people of New Haven, but there were commonalities as well. I would be able to harp on our similarities to earn the favor of their leader, but we could learn a lot from each other’s differences, too.

I grew more and more confident in my ability to strike peace, if not an alliance, with the mysterious mole-people, but I wouldn’t know for certain until I faced Aman.

It was hard to tell the passing of time within the shadows of the tunnels, but it felt like half a day passed on the back of the worm. My ass was sore from sitting on the wobbling wooden planks, and the wooden rail had been digging into my spine for what seemed like hours. Eventually, I pushed myself to my feet, straightened my clothes, and did my best to stretch my stiff limbs while also maintaining my balance.

Just as I clambered to my feet, however, the giant earthworm ahead of us lurched to a halt, and our worm copied. I swayed heavily, and I nearly fell over the rail, but Mae grabbed my vest and helped right me.

“Are we there?” Una asked in a hopeful tone.

“We have arrived at the Great Cavern,” Tu confirmed with a nod.

The mole-warriors on the platform with us lowered the rope ladder down the worm’s side, and the three of us climbed down with shaky limbs. It felt good to stand on solid ground again, but it took my legs a while to catch up to the idea. My knees wobbled and threatened to give way, but I placed a hand against the tunnel wall while my body adjusted.

Mae and Una fared better than I did, and after a few moments of straightening up their clothes and such, we were ready to be presented to the mole-people leader.

Tu and his warriors took up a formation around us, and we all marched together toward a gigantic archway supported by massive stone bricks. Each rectangle was twice the size of me, and I marveled at the strength it had to take to build such a huge entryway.

The archway had nothing on the interior of the Great Cavern, though, and my jaw fell open as I stared around in awe. Thousands of twinkling lights illuminated the ceiling several stories above my head, and a stream of water trickled through a hole in the left wall only to circle the entire chamber and disappear into a similar hole on the right side.

In front of the stream atop a tiered dias sat a stone chair that dwarfed the white-haired mole-man sitting on it, but the feeling of power surrounding him made the massive seat seem appropriate at the same time.

“Your Highness,” Tu greeted with a low bow. “This man claims to be the Dreamer of prophecy, so I have brought him before you to judge.”

This was it, the moment of truth.

What fate would Aman decide for me and my people?