CHAPTER 126

The owl-woman, who had never given her name, was waiting for them at the opening to a large chamber. Flickering lights beyond the entryway cast long, ominous shadows through stalactites and soda straws on the ceiling which gave him an impression of a fearsome maw. He scowled in discomfort, half expecting to see a council of mythical creatures on the other side. They would all be sitting in a circle, ready to demand God only knew what from him.

He was wrong. The opening formed into a series of tunnels that contained glowing stones for illumination. Large columns vanished into the darkness above, revealing a massive chamber that was easily a hundred feet high in places. Holes in the bedrock revealed little hovels where Nirumbi families watched them from behind faded leather curtains.

"How can this be?" muttered Bigfoot. He was still hunched over, despite the tunnel's height. "I thought maybe a few had survived their war with the tribes, but this? This is unprecedented. "

The owl-woman fixed Bigfoot with a stern gaze. "We are all capable of change. The Nirumbi, once fierce warriors who roamed the plains, learned long ago to live beneath the Earth and have forsaken many of their warrior ways. They have done this for many generations along the mountain ranges of your country." She directed this comment to Mike.

"But surely someone would have seen them?" He looked over at a nearby hovel in time to see a pair of adults grab a child and pull them back inside. From what he could see, the males looked just like the females, so he had no way of knowing gender. Did they even have males and females? Or maybe it was asexual reproduction? The thought of watching one of the Nirumbi slowly split into two gave him the shivers.

The owl-woman sighed. "Your people have, but do not often live to tell the tale. You see, it is easy to make a human disappear when you eat it and toss its bones down a well inside a cave."

"Barbaric." Velvet snorted from behind Mike. "So, what, they just catch and kill whoever they wish?"

The owl-woman dipped her head. "Some do. You see, the Nirumbi are at an important crossroads in their evolution. Many of them see the wisdom to keep to themselves and only feast on non-sentient beings. Others wish to return to their warrior ways. Leeds is the reason so many of them attacked you."

"Is he their leader?" Mike asked.

"In a way." The owl-woman gestured for them to follow. The Nirumbi he spotted gave him determined looks, but he didn't see any of the ferocity that he had earlier.

They continued through the tunnels, revealing that hundreds of Nirumbi families lived there.

"Did they do all this?" Mike asked, gesturing to the stone-cut homes. He was surprised when Bigfoot answered.

"No," he said. "These caves were already here."

"They were," agreed the owl-woman. "The Nirumbi are dying out. Despite having caves to live in, they still require the world above the ground to survive. After many close calls with the humans, the men with swords came and began an extermination."

"The Order?" asked Velvet.

"Yes." The owl-woman was walking down the tunnel, but her head turned a hundred and eighty degrees to face them. "Years ago, Leeds came to the Nirumbi and promised them a land where they could be free. In exchange, he needed their help to conquer it."

"That's a super dick move," Mike told her. "To just show up on my back porch and start shooting arrows at everyone."

"Your ancestors had no problem taming these lands with steel and gunpowder," she replied. "If you have a better suggestion for the Nirumbi, I would love to hear it."

"Why Leeds?" This came from Dana. "I saw all those creatures out there. Clearly, they didn't come help him fight. Why did the Nirumbi get to do all the dirty work while they just sat back? Except for the Wendigo, of course."

"There were a few reasons for doing so." Her head swiveled around and she took them down a narrow side passage. There were fewer Nirumbi living in this part of the cave. "The first is that he promised he could get everybody into this land. This was a feat that took him many years, and there were those who didn't believe he could do it."

"Opening a door doesn't make you a leader," Yuki said.

"Correct. What made him a leader was something he told us about called the Great Game."

Mike had been paying close attention to his surroundings, but now his interest was focused solely on the owl-woman.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"Only a human soul could participate in the game, and despite his demonic appearance, his soul is that of a mortal. The plan was to take this land from the current Caretaker by any means. He claimed that he could protect the vulnerable children of the forest, but only if he was in charge."

"What else did he say? And where did he learn about the Great Game?"

The owl-woman shook her head. "I do not know. Leeds is many things, but a reliable narrator is not one of them. I only heard this information third hand, and always after he had moved on. He has been preparing for many years now, and many thought he was a liar."

Mike nodded. "But then he actually brought them here."

"He sent out the call, and the children of the forest listened." The owl-woman stopped and turned toward Bigfoot. "You of all people should know that they have no leader. They were easily swayed by promises of a better world, much like you were."

Bigfoot held up his massive hands. "I'm not going to argue the point," he grumbled.

Mike looked at the owl-woman, and then Bigfoot. A thought occurred to him. "You don't want Leeds in charge," he said, "that's why you need me."

The owl-woman's head twisted to look at him. "It is. You see, some of us have doubted Leeds' intentions all along, and his efforts to displace you have created a momentary breach of trust. The Nirumbi do not wish to continue feeding their warriors to your guardians, and many of the others fear retribution. The warriors of the Nirumbi are the next generation, and between you and the Wendigo, they have already been halved. We now find ourselves at a tipping point where all that we want is finally within reach, but the cost has already been too high. We have seen the company you keep, and wonder if there is a better way."