It took some time for Lily to calm down. I considered proceeding without her, using purely the written word to communicate with the captive, but decided to wait for her. For one thing, I was limited to the words in the dictionary and had absolutely no understanding of syntax. I could apply a bit of conjecture when reading orcish, and context certainly helped, but that was of no use when it was me doing the writing. I had much yet to learn.
Perhaps it was cowardice, but I was also reluctant to undo the Black Dog’s chains in order to have him write. Yes, I had held back in our battle, but no matter how you looked at it, he had managed to drive the hero himself into a corner. Plus, there was the risk that he might kill himself given the chance, rather than cooperate with the enemy.
Lily had finally calmed, the overall tension in the cell had dispersed, and I gave my orc assistant the first words to translate.
“What, last night, attack, purpose?”
I emphasized each term, but occasionally she held up a finger, this being the signal when she didn’t know a certain word. She had raised the third finger. She didn’t know the word “attack.” Our language lessons mostly dealt with everyday objects and activities, so we hadn’t gotten far in other areas. I searched out “attack” in the sage’s notes and wrote the appropriate orcish word in chalk.
She seemed satisfied, and with the message complete, conveyed it to the Black Dog.
His answer was very short. Lily wrote it on the board and showed me. I was actually thankful for how short it was because just finding one word in the dictionary could be time-consuming enough. If his reply had been long-winded, who could say how long it would take to interpret it?
The words this time were “wall” and “break.” The wall obviously meant Dragonjaw Gate. They had come to destroy the fortress. But how?
“How, break?”
I passed my words on to Lily, who conveyed them to the Black Dog, who passed his answer on to Lily, who—oh, what a process!
In essence, the exchange went as follows…
Question: “How did you intend to break the wall?”
Answer: “I heard it would fall to pieces if the blue orb was placed in the center of the glowing room.”
The blue orb was clearly the gem that had fallen out of his bag. I produced it from my pocket to show him.
Question: “Is this the orb?”
Answer: “Yes.”
As I thought. But where did it come from?
Question: “Where did you find it?”
Answer: “Researchers found it in the ruins. I do not know anything else.”
Question: “How did you know how to get to the underground chamber?”
Answer: “The researchers found a book. I do not know anything else.”
In the ruins of the ancients, orcish researchers had obtained information about Dragonjaw Gate’s layout, as well as a means of destroying the fortress. That was far too convenient. In fact, it seemed like our fates had been threaded together. Had their discovery of this information been the catalyst that had summoned me to this world?
I recalled details that supported his story. The report I’d found in his bag contained writing in ancient script as well as orcish. When I’d showed it to Worion, he’d surmised the researchers had copied the contents directly from ancient documents. Rigel had once discovered a book about the magic circle in the ancient capital, so it wouldn’t be strange if other historical documents and books remained. I stared probingly into the Black Dog’s eye. He didn’t seem to be lying, but I wasn’t convinced he was telling the truth.
With a deep sigh, I stared at the ceiling, already exhausted. I’d expended so much effort to obtain so little information. I could tell both Lily and the Black Dog were worn thin from the process themselves.
At this point, I had no way to determine what was true and what wasn’t. I hoped the sage could help me in understanding the text in the documents I’d obtained. For now, I was done here.
I knocked on the cell door to summon the sentries. One of them opened the peephole, saw all was in order within, and let us out. Further on, we were allowed to exit through the dungeon’s gate.
By the time we stepped outside the sun was already setting, and I took a deep breath of cold, clean air. The air back there in the dungeon had been stagnant and unhealthy. I wanted the Black Dog to be able to breathe this fresh air too, but he would need to put up with the dungeon for a little while longer.
The next day, I was awakened by a banging at my door. I hurried to get dressed and opened it to find Herbert standing there, his face pale. The captain himself had come to see me; no wonder the pounding had been so severe.
“I don’t know how I can apologize,” he began, lowering his head.
“What happened?”
“The Black Dog got away.”
I tried to look as surprised as possible. “From the dungeons? How?”
“That’s the thing—we just don’t know. The soldiers on watch were all rendered unconscious, and they didn’t know how. The key was stolen, and now his cell is empty.”
Ah, the infamous Black Dog, seemingly with powers beyond those of any ordinary orc.
Herbert continued, “I stationed our finest men to watch him, yet he still escaped easily. And after all you went through to take him alive!” He looked at me as if with pity, not just because my efforts had apparently been in vain, but because of my battle-worn appearance. To make matters worse, I couldn’t shave because of that ointment-coated groove in my cheek.
“You’re not to blame,” I reassured him. “No one could have expected this. The Black Dog truly is formidable, isn’t he?”
My consoling words seemed inadequate, as I saw him clench his fist in frustration.
“Did you report the Black Dog’s capture to the capital yet?”
“No, we haven’t. Pending the results of your interrogation of him, so far all we’ve done is report that we successfully repelled the enemy.”
“I see. In that case, you don’t need to report this.”
Herbert looked at me in disbelief. “I couldn’t possibly do that! It would completely erase your achievements! I’ll take full responsibility for this failure, so please—”
“The safety of the underground chamber is proof enough of my achievements. Eventually, I’ll leave this world. I have no interest in territory or assets.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “All I really need is strong allies if I’m to save this world. You placed your best men as sentries, correct? If you report this, they may face punishment—and certainly disgrace—and I don’t want that. I don’t want it for you either.”
Herbert trembled with emotion. “What gracious words, Hero! I’ll never forget the debt I owe you.”
“I’ll be counting on you. I’m sure I’ll need your courage again someday.”
As we exchanged a firm handshake, my face didn’t betray to Herbert that a presence clamored inside my head, just as it had when I had decided not to shatter the enigmatic blue gem.
Was the entity weaker than I had believed? After the other night, I had been prepared to be punished for my act—or rather, inaction—by having my hero’s powers stripped from me. And yet, nothing of the sort had happened.