It makes me uneasy, this does. To stand here where Runethane Yurok once stood, looking across the ranks. The glow of their half-concealed maces glitters white on their titanium plates. My hands are sweaty within my gauntlets, and my heart is hammering fast and hard. Did Runethane Yurok feel the same uncertainty and fear as I do now, when he stood up here to order us to descend into the darkness?

He felt something, I'm sure. Yes—I remember now. He was afraid. He didn't want to march down himself. He made excuses. And then, in a startling about-turn, decided that he would be the one to lead us after all.

This time, I am going to be the leader, or, at least, one of them. Runethane Halmak and Guildmaster Nthazes will be the others.

"Dwarves of the Runic League!" I cry out to the two hundred runeknights arrayed before me. "Listen closely, for I have many things to say."

"We listen!" Ithis yells out, and cheers follow.

"Thank you," I say, when they finally fade. "First of all, let me tell you this: I am proud of your loyalty. Even when all others were against me and my runes, you stood strong. You did not listen to the lies. You did not care about the glares given to you in the streets. You knew that we were in the right, and that we are the future of all dwarfkind."

The cheering is so great that the hall shakes.

"Now, the Runethane himself has recognized us! My victory and Hayhek's over those who sought to see us destroyed cannot be ignored. The power of my runes cannot be ignored. Runethane Halmak himself has told me, not one long-hour since, that it will be my runes—our runes—the runes of the Runic League—which will be key to the coming battle!"

I pause. There is silence. They can guess, I think, what battle I am talking about.

"Runeking Ulrike has ordered that the darkness must be destroyed. And it is us who are to be the ones to destroy it. Our guild, alongside Runethane Halmak's elites and the Guardians Against Darkness, are to descend into the Shaft and battle it once again. And our light will annihilate it!"

"Annihilate it!" Ithis screams out, and once again cheering erupts. The hall shakes again, yet not quite as much as before. I sense fear. I can see it in the way they brandish their weapons—they do not hold them up quite so high. A few toward the back do not hold them up at all.

"You may have your concerns about this assault," I continue. "It has been attempted before, at least once. I remember the defeat well. It was a bitter one. Our strength proved not quite enough. But in the end, it turned out not to be as absolute a defeat as we first feared. The darkness was weakened by Runethane Yurok's blows. He was a skilled wielder of light, for all his stubbornness—since then, but a dozen dwarves have been enough to ward off the foe.

"And this time when we go down, we will go down with ten times the forces we had then. Close to a thousand of us will descend. The deep darkness will not be able to resist us. The sorcerer that lurks there will be slain. Slain!"

Another cheer goes up, but it's still not quite loud enough.

"Think of the honor that our guild will gain. Think of the rewards Runeking Ulrike will give us. We will become rich beyond measure. But more than this—think of the gratitude we will be given. No longer will the dwarves of Brightdeep and above live in perpetual fear of the light-eating terror below.

"Make no mistake, my dwarves. This will be a hard battle. And before it, the crafting will be difficult and dangerous too. Almergris is not easy to work with. But in the end, the pain and loss will have been worth it. For honor, gold, and above all, gratitude—that is why we must do this."

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They look solemn, now. But I need another cheer to end this speech on a note of victory. Even if I do not feel particularly confident about our odds of success, they must be assured utterly that we will win.

"Are you afraid? You are, I see it in you. Why? Do you not trust in my runes?"

"We do!" Ithis shouts. "We do, guildmaster!"

"Then say so! Say you believe! Say—we will be victorious! For victory, my dwarves! For victory! Hazhulam-al! Hazhulam-al!"

"Hazhulam-al!" they reply, screaming. "Hazhulam-al! Hazhulam-al!"

"For victory!"

Afterwards, once all rank and file have left the hall and returned either to the forging pits or to their quarters, I meet with the four senior lieutenants of the guild. The founding members: Ithis, Hayhek, Ugyok and Rtayor.

I've spoken to them all individually since the duel—they asked me what the Runethane said. But I haven't spoken to them all together like now, and not in such bright light as their weapons cast.

They look worse than I remember them sounding. Though it has been several long-hours since the riot in the stands, they still appear battered and exhausted. Perhaps it's the cold and dark down here that's oppressing their spirits. Or maybe it's the enormity of the task facing us doing this. Only Ithis has much of a spark in his eyes. Hayhek looks especially haggard—I worry that slaying that young dwarf has scarred his heart in some way.

"Well?" I say. "Do you think they'll hold up? Will you?"

"That depends on how long we have," Hayhek answers. "Did the Runethane not give you a time?"

"No. But I suppose we have some years, at least. Will that be enough for their forging to improve as much as it needs to?"

"It all depends on resources," says Ithis.

"Hopefully we should have no more problems with gold."

"No. But there is the economy of Brightdeep at large to consider—before such a great campaign happens, prices tend to go up."

"I see. So, as always, it will be a competition with the other guilds."

"This time, however, a fair one."

"Indeed."

"In the end, though," says Hayhek, "what matters is the darkness and if we can beat it. That is what I'm worried about. We must consider carefully our course of action."

"What is there to consider?" I shrug. "The Runeking has given us his orders. We cannot ignore them."

"Can we not just seal the Shaft off? With some door or plate grafted with your runes? Can't a strong enough poem do that? Perhaps something about reflectivity."

I shake my head. "The darkness would pull them apart eventually. Armor of light is no good—weapons must be used to strike it. I've talked to Nthazes about this before. Neither would molten rock do any good. Eventually, it would find its way through the cracks."

"Has it ever been tried?"

"Not to living knowledge—so it would be foolish to trust in such a method, or so the deep dwarves say."

"Instead, we will try something that failed the last time. Guildmaster, this coming battle will be a disaster."

"It may be, yes. But that can't be helped. We have to at least believe we have a chance."

"Zathar's runes will make the difference," says Ugyok. "That's what Runethane Halmak believes."

"Does he, though?" says Rtayor. "All of a sudden? Guildmaster, do you not think that having us in the vanguard—where I'm sure he'll end up putting us—could be a trick to get rid of us? Or at least weaken us?"

I shake my head. "Runethane Halmak could have had us wiped out in the arena stands. He chose not to. He believes in doing things fairly. And he doesn't want to risk his city. He wants to destroy the darkness—he truly believes that my runes are the best chance we have to do this."

Rtayor nods. "Very well, guildmaster."

"We can win this," I repeat. "The darkness is not invincible. It has an origin. If we can beat past it and reach the sorcerer, we can slay him and all this will end."

"This sorcerer," says Ithis. "Do you remember much about it?"

"I only caught a glimpse. It had four legs, horns, and scales. It was holding the darkness like it was a ball. That's all."

"If we knew why it was here, perhaps we might have a clue to its powers," says Ugyok.

"We thought maybe it was a prisoner, purposefully trapped in that maze in the city's center. Perhaps some experiment with power drove it mad, and it had to be restrained there. But we'll never know."

"Indeed," says Ithis. "But there's no point speculating. All we can do is forge. But for that we need gold—and for gold, we must return to Brightdeep."

"I'll talk to the Runethane about that. Once I've repaired my armor, I'll head up myself and sort things out."

"Be careful," Hayhek warns.

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